On a rainy evening last week, we released 1500 Laby Beetles into our hoop house. If all goes well, in a few days the Lady Beetles will start to leave clusters of eggs under leaves which will hatch into larvae shortly thereafter. Considering the fact that they’re finding food and that I’ve spotted a few already mating, I think there’s a good chance this will happen!

The larvae of Lady Beetles are active, interesting looking creatures that look like this.  Both larvae and adults of most Lady Beetles are predaceous, eating aphids, white flies and other soft-bodied insects and their eggs. Young lady beetle larvae usually pierce and suck the contents from their prey while older larvae and adults chew and consume their entire prey.

Because their natural instinct is to migrate in search of food, in can be difficult to sucessfully use Lady Beetles as biological controls. However, because we’ve released them into an enclosed area, I’m hopeful that we’ll see positive results. I’ll keep you posted 😉

Elizabeth

p.s. please keep voting – just two more days!