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The beautiful ladybug is not native to America. It was brought here from Australia at the end of the 19th century. It was transplanted here because of its appetite for the cottony cushion scale which threatened the citrus groves of California. The importation of the beatle was a great success saving the entire citrus industry, which flourishes today.

The food supply of the ladybug larvae consists of aphids, asparagus beetle eggs, Colorado potato beetle, grape root worm, bean thrips, alfafa weevil, and chinch bugs. The adult ladybug feasts on aphids and insect eggs. The larva are the most useful in controlling the bad insect population in the garden.

The ladybug is a complete metamorphous insect. Its life begins in the spring as one of about 200 eggs in the crevice of tree bark or the underside of a protected leaf. The egg hatches into a tiny larvae which quickly makes the nearest aphid its first meal. With its voracious appetite, it has been known to consume up to 40 aphids in an hour. The larvae becomes fully grown in about 20 days and pupates after attaching itself to a stem or leave. It emerges as the beautiful black spotted adult ladybird beattle.

The ladybug hibernates to winter over and may gather in great masses beneath loose bark, boards or some other protected place.

The lovely ladybug can be purchased commercially and introduced into the garden as adults. If the weather is warm and sunny, the beatles will mate and lay eggs. About 15 days after that you should have a new generation of larvae at work protecting your plants.

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