did you know? fyi

[tina jacobs]

i read some where (i cant remember where) that ladybirds are an exellent preditor for pest so i googled it here is a piece of the article

but i would not e surprised if you guys come back to me with a didnt you knnow that duh


Ladybirds

These, and many other ladybirds, are voracious predators, feeding in both larval and adult stages on aphids (greenfly), coccids (scale insects), mealybugs, whitefly and, occasionally, on other insect pests of garden and crop plants. Indeed, some predatory ladybirds, such as species of Cryptolaemus and Delphastus, are mass-reared on a commercial scale for use as biological control agents against mealybug and whitefly infestations in greenhouses.


22-spot ladybird (Psyllobora vigintiduopunctata)
(actual size 3-4 mm long) There are some non-predatory ladybirds, like the yellow and black 22-spot ladybird (Psyllobora vigintiduopunctata), pictured opposite, which eat the mildews and other microscopic fungi that grow on plant tissues and thus may help reduce the incidence of certain fungal diseases in plants.

[kid a]

Wow, I had had heard ladybugs were so is a ladybird the same as a ladybug?

[janet_a]

yes, i think they're referred to as ladybird beetles too. whenever i find one in the house i put it on the gynura or the hibiscuses, which ALWAYS have 'phids.

there's some other kind of critter out there that eats aphids and lives on barley i think--you buy a chunk of barley in some sort of growing medium, and put it in your GH; the bugs munch on your 'phids and then go back to the barley when they run out.

[tina jacobs]

i went and bought a couple of them at this guy that breeds them and i put them on my cym which someting was eating the lflower and the lip was always sliced right off i could not see what was eating it and since they have been on there i have not had any more damage done to my cym

[sandra]

Originally Posted by kid a

Wow, I had had heard ladybugs were so is a ladybird the same as a ladybug?

I was just going to ask the same question.

Thanks for the clarification Janet.

Hmm, I haven't seen many ladybugs since living in Fla. I wonder why?

[Leisurely]

I knew they were good predators but I never heard of them being called ladybirds. I remember them from the nursery rhyme: Ladybug, Ladybug fly away home etc. So I have always called them Ladybugs.

[evagentry]

Lady bugs are a great natural pest reducer, when I see aphids in my vegetable garden, I have learned if I can just be patient the Lady bugs aren't far behind.They are so much better than pesticides.

[Cynthia, Prescott, AZ]

I put a 1000 lady bugs in my greenhouse recently, and the next day they were all dead. Seems you have to wait 6 to 8 weeks after using Bayer advanced 3 in 1, and the thiophanate methyl kills half of the ladybugs every time you spray, which I do every other day. Good thing I didn't opt for the $60-$100 Stethorus lady beetles, a much smaller version of the ladybug that likes mites.

[slippery_biscuit]

I turned a pkg loose on my rose tree last year and watch for a few days as they climbed all over chomping aphids.

Quite entertaining!

[solay]

I get a lot of ladybugs in my back yard. Probably likes all the aphids on my roses. I always called them ladybugs ever since I was little. All the kids use to collect them and release them in the classrooms just to annoy the teacher. Hee! Hee! I was one of those kids.