Lady Bugs...Lady Bugs....and More Lady Bugs!

Did You Know!

• We have 400 different kinds of Ladybugs in North America.
• Aphids are a Ladybugs favorite food.
• The male Ladybug is smaller than the female ladybug.
• A Ladybug beats its wings 85 times a second when it flies.
• Although most Ladybugs live for one season, some hibernate under treebark, stumps, and leaves  or in a Ladybug house until the next spring.
• Predators won't eat an insect if it doesn't move, so Ladybugs have been known to play dead!
• You can attract Ladybugs to your garden by putting out white or yellow flowers, such as Marigold, Calendula, Cosmos (white, pink, orange or yellow), and Chives (they produce a beautiful herb flower).

This year I will have 2 Ladybug houses in my yard to give them a safe place to spend the night and protect them from predators, wind and rain. I also hope they will hibernate in them over the winter.

                                    About Ladybugs! 

Ladybugs can be very beneficial to your garden! They keep annoying pests away and help pollinate other plants, but how do you keep them in the garden? SOLUTION FOUND! When you first buy your Ladybugs from your local gardening store, make a fun little concoction: 1 part water to 2 parts flat soda (like Root beer or Orange) then spray it on the lady bugs while in the bag. This will sort of "glue" their wings together for about 2 or 3 days (don't worry, it doesn't hurt them at all) this way, they'll lay their eggs around your garden, and where ever a Ladybug lays her eggs is considered her home. So, she'll keep returning to that place in the garden and eating the little aphids and other pests in your garden!

A Ladybug's eggs look like this small, orange, and football shaped photo below. The eggs will hatch in 2 to 5 days.

Ladybug Eggs

They look very similar to aphid eggs. The difference is the color and size. Aphid eggs look like this photo below, very small, black, and football shaped.

    

Aphid Eggs

When Ladybug eggs hatch they look like this photo below; creepy looking right? This is the larva stage and can last up to 3 weeks. Make sure you don't harm these little guys! Not that you could, well easily at least. They're very fast! They eat a good amount of aphids in this stage of life. 

Larva

At this stage they stay inactive for a short time and become a Pupa which looks like this photo below. Slightly smaller than a full grown Ladybug. Their shell is growing and is a light orange-brown color with some spots. In about 7 days, they become full grown Ladybugs. Ladybugs do not have their spots until 24 hours, so if you find one without spots, you have found a brand new adult! Now the life cycle starts over again. 

Enjoy your Ladybugs and watching your garden thrive pest free!

Adult Ladybug

This post on Ladybugs was written by: Rachel Collins and Ruby Collins

Art and animation of Ladybug by: Rachel Collins