Lady beetles and their larvae eat aphids and other soft-bodied pests. Larvae eat their weight in aphids each day (Family Coccinelidae).
Most of us recognize an adult lady beetle (lady bug). But many don’t know the larvae. They’re weird-looking critters: we may think they’re dangerous. But they are valuable predators of garden pests.
Lady beetle larvae are alligator-shaped with black and orange markings. Each species has a distinct pattern. They are soft-bodied and about the size of an adult lady beetle. They are quite harmless to humans.
Both lady beetle larvae and adults voraciously feed on soft-bodied insects such as aphids, mealybugs, scale insects and spider mites as well as insect eggs. A single lady beetle may eat as many as 5,000 aphids in its lifetime. A single larva can eat dozens of aphids per day.
After feeding on insect prey for several weeks, the larva pupates on a leaf. Adults tend to move on once pests get scarce, while the larvae remain and search for more prey.
How to attract
You can attract lady beetles to your yard by planting flowers that produce pollen and nectar. Examples include dill, angelica, coreopsis, fennel, yarrow. marigolds, calendula, sunflower, daisy and alyssum.
You can find a longer list of plants that attract lady beetles and other beneficial insects here.
Don’t buy lady beetles
We don’t recommend buying lady beetles for pest control. They typically won’t stay in your garden when released. A better strategy is to attract lady beetles, or other insect predators, to your yard.
The lady beetles you can buy are likely wild beetles that were hibernating. Collectors scoop up the beetles and sell them to gardeners. We don’t know the impact on wild populations.
