It's Fall Break
While wandering on the beach recently, those of us at The Why Files got a little bugged out by the sight of a line, roughly a foot wide and stretching for miles down the sand, of Asian Lady Beetles-a ladybug-like insect originally imported from Asia as a biological tool for pest control. After blushing at the thought that these bugs might be involved in activities best conducted in private, we decided that while even educated fleas might do it, these bugs had not fallen in love.

Research confirmed our suspicion that Asian Lady Beetles do not mate in the fall. Instead, during the weeks before the first chills of winter, they congregate in search of places to hibernate. Down home in Russia and Japan, the bright colored bugs winter in cracks in cliff sides. In the absence of rocky outcrops, the beetles prefer to live in the gaps found in house siding and often throng on the sides of lightly colored buildings. After the first insects arrive at a likely wintering location, they release chemicals that quickly attract their friends and family. Soon there are more bugs than couples at a Moonie wedding.

Not to put too fine a point on it, but a Lake Michigan beach isn't exactly a great place to spend the winter – unless you like ice fishing. After still more research, it turns out that Asian Lady Beetles aren't the only species of lady beetles that congregate on beaches during the fall. In fact, the annual event is as certain as the springtime congregation of college students in Florida.

Unfortunately, scientists are as confused as we are – a rare occurrence given our level of perpetual confusion. According to Robert Dahl, Section Chief of Plant Protection at the Wisconsin Department of Agriculture, "It could be they wash up on floating debris or find something about the temperature of the sand that draws them. What I am really telling you is that we have no idea why this occurs…"

So, the game is afoot. Consider yourselves challenged. The answer is out there, we just need a budding young scientist to discover an answer to the question: "Why?".