Saturday, May 14, 2011

Beneficial Insects: Ladybugs

Ladybug Eating an Aphid

Ladybugs
aka Ladybirds (if you are in most English speaking areas of the world other than the U.S.),
aka Lady Beetles
aka Ladybird Beetles

Latin Name: Coccinellidea species  (Over 5,000 species in the world.  Over 450 in North America)

Why are they beneficial?
Adults and larvae feed on soft-bodied pests, mites, and pest eggs.
They LOVE aphids!
A larvae will eat about 400 aphid prior to pupating.
An Adult can consume over 5,000 aphids in it lifetime.

What is their life cycle?
The female will lay her eggs in a cluster on a plant leaf or stem.
In about a week, the eggs hatch into larvae (they look like little alligators).
The larvae go through four stages (instars) as they mature and grow.
In about a month, the larvae pupate (go into a cocoon-like stage).
In another week, the adults emerge.

What do they look like?
This is important.  Most people only know what the adult looks like.  Here is what to look for in all stages of the life cycle.

Ladybug Laying Eggs

Ladybug Eggs on a Leaf

Ladybug Eggs and Head of a Match (for size)

Newly Hatched Ladybug Larvae

Ladybug Larvae
Note that every species is very similar, but may have slightly different patterns and colors to this one.

Ladybug Pupa
Note that each species has slightly different colors and spot patterns, but they are all basically the same shape.

Adult Ladybug

Adult Ladybug

Adult Ladybug
Note that colors and spots may be different with different species, but size and shape are about the same.

This is a great series of images of the life cycle of a Ladybug.

What do they need?
Prey: aphids, mites, soft-bodied insects, and insect eggs
Food: Ladybugs also need nectar and pollen from flowers that have shallow clusters or are umbrella shaped (basket of gold, buckwheat, butterfly weed, carpet bugleweed, chamomile, chervil, chives, clover, cornflower, cosmos, coreopsis, cinquefoil, coriander, dandelion, dill, fennel, four-wing saltbush, golden marguerite, marigold, mustard, parsley, queen anne's lace, scented geraniums, spike speedwell, sunflowers, tansy, vetch, wild carrot, yarrow).
Ladybugs need places to overwinter - loose mulch, leaf litter, under rocks, etc.

NOTE:  The "Asian Lady Beetle", that one that seems to come in swarms inside your house in the fall, is still a beneficial insect for your garden, but it can give a little bite (not poisonous), and can stain skin and other surfaces with its yellowish, foul smelling defense secretion.  Just try to relocate them to your garden.

Check out these other pages on beneficial insects in your garden!
Bees
Lacewings
Ladybugs
Praying Mantis
Trichogramma Wasps

18 comments:

  1. You know it would really help if you direct link to the blog/photo acccount so that readers could also check out other related images.

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  2. Great article on Ladybugs. good to see the stages too.

    um, you realize that the last comment (from mnjhy) is spam right?

    ReplyDelete
  3. Fabulous photographs! Very informative. Never knew the ladybug, which I've been infatuated with since childhood, had so many stages. Thanks for sharing.

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  6. Ladybugs, also called lady beetles or ladybird beetles, are a very beneficial group of insects. Ladybugs are natural enemies of many insect pests and it has been demonstrated that a single ladybug may consume as many as 5,000 aphids in its lifetime.

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