LADYBUG FACTS from WIKIPEDIA

Coccinellidae

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Coccinellidae
Coccinella septempunctata (seven-spotted)
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia Phylum: Arthropoda Class: Insecta Order: Coleoptera Superfamily: Cucujoidea Family: Coccinellidae Latreille, 1807

Coccinella transversalis, elytra (wing cases) in the open position

The Coccinellidae are a family of beetles. All species are protected by noxious fluids based on cyanide, and most have warning colouration, such as red with black spots.
They are usually called lady bugs or ladybirds. Biologists prefer the term lady beetle.
Coccinellids are found worldwide, with over 5,000 species.^[1] Most species are carnivorous, feeding mainly on the true bugs, the Hemiptera. Their favourite food is pests such as aphids (greenfly) or scale insects. Their larvae are also voracious (greedy) eaters of greenfly.
Harmonia axyridis (or the Harlequin ladybug) was introduced into North America from Asia in 1988 to control aphids but is now the most common species as it is out-competing many of the native species.^[2] It has since spread to much of western Europe, reaching the UK in 2004.^[2][3]

Contents [hide] 1 Defence 2 Appearance 3 Life and food supply 4 References

[change] Defence

Coccinellids are often brightly coloured to warn potential predators. This phenomenon is called aposematism and works because predators learn by experience to associate certain prey phenotypes (appearance) with a bad taste (or worse).
Mechanical stimulation (such as by predator attack) causes "reflex bleeding" in both larval and adult ladybird beetles, in which a toxin is put through the joints of the exoskeleton, deterring feeding. This method works well; birds and cats seldom try twice.

[change] Appearance

A ladybug's pronotum may sometimes be mistaken for the ladybug's whole head

Most people know lady beetles as small, round, red beetles with black spots on their backs.
Not all lady beetles are red, and not all red lady beetles have spots. Some lady beetles are very little and are black and hairy. Lady beetles vary in color as red, orange, or yellow with black spots. They can also be black with red spots. Some are missing spots altogether. There are even a few kinds of ladybeetles with metallic blue iridescence, and some have checkerboard markings or stripes.
Most of the black part of the ladybeetle is the thorax, also called the pronotum. It sometimes has spots on it, and sometimes it is all black.

[change] Life and food supply

Ladybeetle larvae look like strange adult insects

Most coccinellids overwinter as adults.^[4] In Harmonia axyridis, eggs hatch in 3–4 days from clutches numbering from a few to several dozen. Depending on resource availability, the larvae pass through four instars over 10–14 days, after which pupation occurs. After several days, the adults become reproductively active and are able to reproduce again, though not late in the season. Total life span is 1–2 years on average.
It only takes about four weeks for the ladybeetle to transform from a tiny egg to an adult. Some females can lay up to 1,000 eggs in one summer. The ladybeetle may lay her eggs near an aphid colony, or on plants where the larvae will have a ready supply of food when they hatch.
Almost all lady beetles are insectivores, which means they eat other insects. Many of these insects have soft bodies, such as aphids. Even baby lady beetles eat other insects. Aphids are a huge problem for farmers and gardeners, and therefore a ladybug is a very good help to the farmers. Some species of ants herd aphids like sheep, and will attack a ladybeetle that tries to eat one of their aphids.

JOHN BUYS LADYBUGS AND RELEASES THEM

Let's Visit John's Garden. He always has the best tips for growing great veggies naturally.  John noticed that he was getting an aphid infestation.  There were more aphids than his ladybug population could handle...The solution????  BUY Ladybugs!!  Let's watch John as he walks us through the steps he uses for a Ladybug release.

John is  great gardener who loves to share the natural methods he uses. You can see that John Buys Ladybugs and uses them to control aphids in his garden. He encourages them to stay around all year but will buy more if they aren't keeping up with the pests.









If you notice that you have an infestation of aphids in your garden then follow Gardener John's lead and buy ladybugs for an easy, tried and true organic no pesticide method of control.

Watch the video and hear John's Ladybug fact for this week....did you catch it?
Ladybugs don't fly at night!! So guess why we release them at night???

WHEN APHIDS ATTACK - BUY LADYBUGS

After having had a month of rainstorms on and off, followed by two weeks of sunny southern California weather, it was time to get back out to the garden and do some weeding.  The first thing I saw were aphids.  They were everywhere!  All over everything from my beautiful roses to my sweet young tomato plants.  That's when I knew it was past time to buy ladybugs and get rid of those horrors before they totally ruined my garden.

I received my ladybugs in less than a week, and put them right into the refrigerator until the next day.  I took them out of the refrigerator in the early evening,, opened the container and sprinkled them with water (not too much) and put  the lid back on, and left them on my counter.

Then at dusk it was out to the garden with my "rainwand" to to water all the foliage on my plants.  Since the ladybugs are thirsty after their hibernation, this is an excellent way to encourage them to stick around.  It is also the primary reason to do your "ladybug release" after dark.  Since they forage and fly mostly in the daylight.

Now,  I had awakened the lady bugs and given them a drink to help them become active...if there are a few that aren't moving around yet...they probably are not dead, these are waking up more slowly.  They usually become active by the time I'm almost done with my release.

Since I don't like to handle the ladybugs a lot,  I prefer to use the shake them out method to distribute them vs the grab a handful or let them crawl all over me methods.  I still get a few that end up crawling on my hand but not many. I shake them out a few per plant and maybe an extra shake on the plants that have the worst infestation.

Now I can  go to sleep tonight knowing that in the morning those lovely little ladybugs will be out there in my garden getting rid of the invading hoards of aphids that have been plaguing it.  I also know that when harvest time comes my tomato's will be pesticide free.  Before I go to sleep tonight I think about the fact that when my garden runs out of pests for the ladybugs to eat they will move on to my neighbors yard, where I  saw aphids on her roses, and then on to the next and the next.  By the time I actually fall asleep I'm feeling really good about making an actual contribution to the environment.

THE LIFE CYCLE OF THE LADY BUG

Here at Buy Lady Bugs I try to bring informative posts to you so that you can come to love these beneficial bugs.  This Post is about the life cycle of the ladybug.

The Lady bug goes through four stages in it's lifetime. The first three happen quickly, usually in two to four weeks, before it enters the easily recognizable red/orange adult spotted bug we all know and which can live 1-2 years.

The first stage is the egg stage.  When there is a lot of food available, ladybugs will lay their eggs in close proximity to ensure that the larvae will have food close by to get started when they hatch. They usually will try to lay their eggs on the underside of leaves, to protect and hide them from predators and the weather. A female lady bug will lay as few as 3 and as many as 1000 eggs at a time. Their eggs are usually a yellowish-orange color. Ladybug eggs generally hatch in 5-10 days.

The next stage is the larvae stage.  When they first hatch from their eggs they are often all black and somewhat triangular shaped, and as they molt they have some red/orange on them and will look like little dragons or alligators. They eat the same bugs that the adult lady bugs eat. (aphids, white flies, mealy bugs, spider mites, scale bugs, etc.)  In a very short time, depending on the food supply, they will begin to molt.  Usually in 1-3 days. If you look very closely at the leaves you may be able to see their shed skins.

The next stage of the lady bugs life is the Pupa stage.  Generally if food is available, the larva will continue to grow and shed it's skin for 9-15 days.  Then the larva's looks will begin to change. It will change color and shape. It will start to resemble a small yellowish sack with a black foot holding it to the leaf.  Over the next few days, the sack,which is called a nymph, will change shape and color as it goes through it's metamorphosis, (like the caterpillar becoming the butterfly). 

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Then in approximately 5 days, when it breaks free of the nymph,, it comes out a light shade of pink or orange and will gain pigment and spots. Over the next 24 hours it continues to darken and harden until it becomes the ladybug we all know..bright red or orange and spotted.

  

I hope that you found this interesting and informative.  I hope it inspires you to try ladybugs instead of pesticides in your garden this year.  To get started, simply click on the carousel at the top of this page and

buy  lady bugs now.

WHAT'S SO WONDERFUL WHEN YOU BUY LADYBUGS?

What's so wonderful when you buy ladybugs is that you can order them through the mail. Yes, you can buy ladybugs and have them sent right to your home.  

An entire army of ladybugs to take on the pests (bad bugs) in your garden.   They love soft bodied insects, particularly aphids and scale insects.  So any small, soft bodied insects are what the ladybugs see as a treat and love to munch on.

You want to keep in mind that if you spray pesticides in your garden you will not only kill the "bad" bugs, you will kill the "good" beneficial insects (like honey bees,lace wings, praying mantis') as well.  Also do your really want pesticides on your fruits and veggies??


It is usually when I first see any aphids on my roses, herbs, veggie plants or fruit trees that I buy ladybugs.  They usually arrive in a week.  I place them straight into my refrigerator.  Since I generally release my ladybugs after dark, I  take them out of the refrigerator about an hour before dark and sprinkle them with water.  Then at dusk I go out and leaf water the plants and trees I plan to release them onto. Since the ladybugs have been in 'hibernation' they are usually very thirsty and will find the water drops on the leaves.  This refreshes them and they will be ready at first light to get busy eating all those pesky "bad" bugs.

I have attached a video of a ladybug release, they are releasing them in the daytime, and it doesn't look like they watered the whole garden areas where they are releasing them....this does show that there is no wrong way to do this!  Whether you refrigerate them or not, pre-water your leaves or not, the ladybugs will find their food, and will help to rid your garden of "bad" bugs.


So whether you are a farmer, a home owner, or a container gardener ladybug releases can be fun for the whole family.


To order yours now, click on the carousel at the top of this blog page and get started.