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Ladybug Warfare

Ladybugs. Tiny spotted harbingers of aphid doom. Charming, and frankly pretty goth to release an army of bugs to wage war on other bugs.

Unfortunately, around 95% of the ladybugs sold in those little nursery containers will immediately abandon your garden and disappear into the night. Research also suggests aphid control can require up to 1,500 ladybugs per shrub. So if you release a small container and expect biblical annihilation, the odds are not in your favor.

You'll see small containers of ladybugs near the registers at greenhouses, and looking closely you'll undoubtedly notice a lot of dead soldiers. Ladybugs should actually be stored refrigerated. They’re wild creatures collected from overwintering colonies in the foothills, packaged up, and sold to gardeners with unrealistic expectations and a dream. Without proper storage, many die before ever reaching the battlefield.


Need immediate aphid vengeance? One of the best controls is simply blasting aphids off plants with a strong stream of water. Aphids are not particularly bright, athletic, or resilient. Once on the ground, many die or are eaten by something else lurking in the garden shadows.


If you do buy ladybugs: • Purchase from nurseries that keep them refrigerated • Release them at dusk so they’re less likely to immediately flee the premises • Avoid pesticides, because poisoned aphids tend to create poisoned ladybugs. Nature is efficient like that.


Ironically, ladybugs would often show up on their own if gardens were built to support them instead of chemically terrorizing everything with six legs.

Plants especially attractive to ladybugs:https://ucanr.edu/sites/default/files/2015-07/77452.pdf

Plants that may attract ladybugs and other beneficial insects: https://ucanr.edu/sites/ucmgplacer/files/320307.pdf

Additional ladybug lore from the Bohart Museum of Entomology at UC Davis: https://bohart.ucdavis.edu/lady-bugs


 
 
 

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