Buying and releasing ladybugs

[Nybonsai12]

Has anybody mail ordered lady bugs and released them in their yard by their trees to help get rid of and deter bugs? Curious to hear if anyone has done this and if they felt it was successful.

 

[jk_lewis]

They don't "deter" bugs. And, unless you have a heavy infestation of aphids or other slow-moving sucking insects, they won't stick around and they don't stay in the neighborhood once they've done their job, so you may get a re-infestation..

I've found that they usually just show up when needed.

 

[fourteener]

They don't "deter" bugs. And, unless you have a heavy infestation of aphids or other slow-moving sucking insects, they won't stick around and they don't stay in the neighborhood once they've done their job, so you may get a re-infestation..

I've found that they usually just show up when needed.

Ants mine aphids. Ants carry aphids to places to get the honeydew that aphids produce. I've found over the years that spraying for ants is more useful than trying to deal with the aphids. If I remove all the aphids off of my cherry tree, ants will carry them back over.

I've sprayed for ants next to things that aphids like and I now have limited problems with aphids. It's an interesting combo I never thought about until someone pointed it out to me. Keep your ants by your peonies!!

 

[Beng]

Has anybody mail ordered lady bugs and released them in their yard by their trees to help get rid of and deter bugs? Curious to hear if anyone has done this and if they felt it was successful.

I just released some Saturday. Overhead water your plants before you release them around dusk and many will stick around for the entire spring/summer. I don't know if they do too much but I like knowing they're around....

 

[rockm]

FWIW, ladybug larva eat the most aphids and they take four to six weeks to hatch...That's IF the adults stick around to lay the eggs where you've released them.

There are easier, less expesive ways to control aphids. A strong blast of water from a hose directed upward and through foliage will get rid of alot of them. Simply stripping them off by hand can also work.

Ditto on the ants. If you've got aphids, you've probably got ants spreading them. Same for scale...

 

[coh]

FWIW, ladybug larva eat the most aphids and they take four to six weeks to hatch...That's IF the adults stick around to lay the eggs where you've released them.

The larva are definitely the "big eaters", but I don't think your numbers regarding egg hatching are correct. All the references I've seen indicate that the ladybug completes its entire life cycle in 4-7 weeks, and that the eggs hatch in a week or less (depending on weather).

One thing we don't lack around here is ladybugs. They swarm in the fall looking for places to overwinter...some wind up in the house. In the spring, large numbers of the ladybug larva fall out of a large boxelder tree near our house...that tree must be full of aphids. I simply move the larva onto whatever trees have aphids.

Chris

 

[jk_lewis]

Ants mine aphids. Ants carry aphids to places to get the honeydew that aphids produce.

While it is true that ants like the honeydew that aphids make, I don't think it is accurate to say that the ants "carry" aphids to a plant. Aphids are quite capable of getting there on their own, and you WILL have aphids without an ant in sight. And as for "mining . . ."

They swarm in the fall looking for places to overwinter...some wind up in the house.

These aren't the native ladybugs that you buy. These are an exotic, non-native pest from Japan and elsewhere in Asia. I'm not at all sure how voracious they are, aphid wise.

 

[coh]

We have both the native and non-native varieties in abundance, and both kinds try (and succeed) to get in the house in the fall. As for the larva - I don't know what kind it is that falls from the tree, all I know is when I transport them to a plant that has aphids, the larva immediately go searching and start devouring all the aphids they can find. It's pretty impressive.

Chris

Edit to add - info on Asian ladybug: http://www.uri.edu/ce/factsheets/sheets/asianladybeetle.html

Quote from article - "The exotic Asian lady beetle has had a positive impact in many states because of the beetle's effectiveness in controlling aphids on pecan trees, pine trees, ornamental shrubs, cotton, wheat, tobacco, roses, etc."

 

[Nybonsai12]

I just released some Saturday. Overhead water your plants before you release them around dusk and many will stick around for the entire spring/summer. I don't know if they do too much but I like knowing they're around....

How many did you release?

 

[coh]

Regarding the original question, how to keep the ladybugs in the yard...my guess is the only way they'll stay around is if you have a large enough population of "bad bugs" (aphids, scale, etc) to sustain them. Otherwise they'll move on. If your yard is well landscaped with trees, shrubs, etc you probably have a better chance than if you have a lot of grass with a few bonsai trees. Even then, the limited aphid population on a bonsai tree may not be enough to prompt the ladybugs to lay eggs.

Chris

 

[fourteener]

While it is true that ants like the honeydew that aphids make, I don't think it is accurate to say that the ants "carry" aphids to a plant. .

It's not a bunch of made up folk-lore guessing, it's actual science and observed behavior...Between articles and textbooks the info is pretty common. The following comes from a scientific journal...


"Aphid-herding ants make sure their "cattle" stay well-fed and safe. When the host plant is depleted of nutrients, the ants carry their aphids to a new food source. If predatory insects or parasites attempt to harm their wards, the ants will defend them aggressively. Some honey ants even go so far as to destroy the eggs of known aphid predators like lady beetles."

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aphid

 

[davetree]

It is true. I have aphid herding ants on my spirea every year. I have found that if I move the tree to a spot at least twenty feet away after blasting the aphids off with a hose that it confuses the ants and they cannot find the bonsai for a few weeks. If I put the tree back in its original spot the ants will put the aphids back overnight.

 

[Beng]

How many did you release?

I don't have any bad bugs now, although I had some scale which I dealt with over winter on a black pine, and a slugs been feasting on one of my umes leaves at night... I used safari once as a spray as well as a soil drench of merit in early spring. The merit will be reapplied to the soil this next weekend I like to space out 3 applications each spring and one in the fall. I dont mess around with bad bugs anymore i nuke them. If good bugs sre on the samd plant o fond a bad bug on they get killed as wrll.

Back to the question though. As far as I can see most trees have no bad bugs all clean green leaves althou. I released 1500. Usually a few hundred will be dead unless you buys somewhere local and have them shipped overnight. I had lady bugs in my cold house this spring before there were any other bugs outside. I think they stick around for the occasional bug that lands and the abundance of daily water. I usually put more out along with mantis In the summer.

 

[wireme]

I hear that having lots of flowering plants around will attract predatory insects. Cilantro flowers are said to be good ones for ladybug populations.

 

[gergwebber]

I have found that they do tend to be present in higher numbers when released, but this is not really going to help bonsai if there is a bad crop of aphids. I use a water bottle with the nozzle on course. If it is really bad you can add a little soap.

The key to releasing them in my opinion is that you are using this as one piece of an integrated pest management system [IPM]. It will not do a lot of good if you are using other insecticides regularly.

IT is great fun If you have a little kid to release them with!

 

[Beng]

I have found that they do tend to be present in higher numbers when released, but this is not really going to help bonsai if there is a bad crop of aphids. I use a water bottle with the nozzle on course. If it is really bad you can add a little soap.

The key to releasing them in my opinion is that you are using this as one piece of an integrated pest management system [IPM]. It will not do a lot of good if you are using other insecticides regularly.

IT is great fun If you have a little kid to release them with!

This is true, a bad outbreak of any bug and you'll end up killing all the lady bugs using something any spray based insecticide. Merit or bayer to the soil won't hurt them though as they're not eating your plant or your roots. But if they happen to get on the soil after you water with it of course they would die. It's more just for fun and kinda nice knowing a predator bug is around should anything decide your garden looks like dinner even if the pest may and probably will overtake the lady bugs with time.

 

[edprocoat]

Regarding ladybugs sticking around, I would suggest clipping off one of their wings before releasing them, then they coudl only fly in a circle !


Of course I aint the sharpest tool in tha shed !

ed

 

[Nybonsai12]

Thanks for the replies all. I'm going to give it a shot. I have small children so if anything, it will be fun.

 

[davetree]

They are inexpensive. You can get several thousand for just a few dollars. Spraying your trees with water is a good idea before releasing them at dusk. They will stick around for the water as they are always thirsty when you release them. Ask at local greenhouses or hydroponic stores, they have the freshest ones.

 

[Dav4]

At least this year, I've got no need to buy lady bugs...there are scores of them- well, the larvae for now, all over my bonsai ( I don't know if that's a good thing or a bad thing, really). Last week, they were all over japanese quinces, and today, there's a bunch of them on my hawthorn and some of my maples.