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| Photo Credit: ©2005 Buglady Consulting |
| Ladybugs come in many colors. This is the pink spot ladybird beetle, Coleomegilla maculata. | Ladybugs are one of the few insects everyone seems to love. They come in many colors, shapes and sizes. In fact, there are more than 450 different species found here in North America. Most people know they are good for the garden, but have you ever stopped to wonder why?Ladybugs, or ladybird beetles, are “generalist predators.” This means they feed on a wide range of insect pests and mites (sometimes they even eat the other good guys). As the adult and immature ladybugs wander through your garden and landscape, they’ll eat just about anything in their path. Because many of today’s gardeners want to control their pests naturally, they’re turning to these little friends to eat away garden pests. Many people are buying adult ladybugs at garden centers or over the Internet to release at home. Where do these ladybugs come from?” Most ladybugs for sale are the convergent lady beetle, Hippodamia convergens, and sadly, they’ve been “harvested” from natural winter aggregation sites.
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| Some species of ladybird beetles congregate in masses during winter to hibernate. | What does this mean exactly? Well, in the western United States, after the ladybugs have fed all summer, they head up into the mountains by the millions to spend their “off season.” While resting clumped together by the thousands, collectors come along and scoop up the hibernating ladybugs. Next, these dazed beetles are either packaged and shipped out to retailers or they’re held in refrigeration to break their hibernation. If they aren’t held to “break” their hibernation cycle, they won’t lay eggs when released. This dormancy stage must be broken for the life cycle to continue.
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