A way to attract ladybugs to your garden is to place several ladybug habitation boxes around your garden. Fill the boxes with organic material such as peat or compost to encourage ladybugs to roost and lay eggs inside the box. In addition, the habitation box also provides protection for the ladybugs in the winter months.
To further promote ladybug populations, consider cutting back on spraying insecticides in your garden. Ladybugs are sensitive to most synthetic insecticides and if the majority of their food source is gone, they will not lay their eggs and therefore will not continue to populate.
Here are some interesting ladybug facts:
— There are nearly 5,000 different kinds of ladybugs worldwide and 400 which live in North America.
— A female ladybug will lay more than 1000 eggs in her lifetime.
— A ladybug beats its wings 85 times a second when it flies.
— A gallon jar will hold from 72,000 to 80,000 ladybugs.
— Ladybugs make a chemical that smells and tastes terrible so that birds and other predators won’t eat them.
— The spots on a ladybug fade as the ladybug gets older.
— Ladybugs won’t fly if the temperature is below 55 degrees Fahrenheit.
— The ladybug is the official state insect of Delaware, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Ohio, and Tennessee.
you can attract ladybugs by planting vector flowers such as angelica or dill or by allowing weeds such as dandelions, wild carrot, or yarrow. Wheast, a combination of whey and yeast, may be sprayed on plants to attract ladybugs.
They should be released in late spring (early April to early June) depending on what part of the country you live in. The pest(s) to be controlled must be present or the ladybeetles have a tendency to leave in search of other food. The release area should be lightly watered before releasing them. These should be applied near dusk.
NATURE IN JAPAN 