Ladybugs

If you find a number of ladybugs in your garden, chances are you have aphids

Ladybugs, a beneficial insect here in the desert, are essential to rid our plants of aphids. 

Studies show that a ladybug will consume some 50 aphids a day; more than 5,000 aphids can be eaten by a single adult ladybug in its lifetime.

In the spring, adult females find food, then lay from fifty to three hundred eggs in or near aphid colonies. Eggs hatch in three to five days, and larvae feeds on aphids or other insects for two to three weeks.

Bingo!!

Here’s the crazy thing…they dine only on insects and do not harm vegetation in any way.  

Bonus!!

There is controversy about transporting ladybugs from one spot to another but, I hate aphids and love plants too much to let those little buggers mess up my colorful back yard.

I find packages (netted bags) of live ladybugs at Home Depot or Lowes.

Ladybugs should always be released after sundown since they only fly in the daytime.

I find it is a great, natural solution to aphids.

I feel lucky to have ladybugs in my garden and knowing they are busy doing me a big favor and saving plants from unnecessary chemicals.

Besides, they’re quite cute.