Don’t let their cute looks fool you: Ladybugs are vicious
killers.
Fortunately, their sweet image is saved by the fact they kill
nasty little pests called aphids, the bane of home gardeners
everywhere.
Don’t let their cute looks fool you: Ladybugs are vicious killers.
Fortunately, their sweet image is saved by the fact they kill nasty little pests called aphids, the bane of home gardeners everywhere.
Aphids are small, soft-bodied insects that suck the juices out of plants, causing stunted shoots, and yellow, curling leaves. A mold fungus often grows from their feces, according to the University of California, Davis. Aphids can be green, yellow, white, brown or red, depending on what plant they feed on.
“Aphids find plants they like, and go to them,” said Kotoko, a volunteer with Santa Clara County’s Master Gardener hotline. “They are sucking insects, but they don’t want to work too hard to get the juice, so they often go to new-growth stems that have soft, tender tissue. So, any plant rich in new growth is susceptible.”
Because ladybugs are a natural predator of aphids, they are a safe, biological way of keeping the pests under control.
“Sure, there’s some plants ladybugs eat, but they’re generally not ornamental plants,” said Terry Butler, owner of Meadowlark Nursery & Landscaping in Hollister. “Ladybugs are beneficial in a lot of ways. They eat aphids and other insects, too, they till the soil, they’re just good to have around.”
Gardeners can encourage ladybugs, which are actually beetles, to come to their gardens by putting out a sacrificial plant, Kotoko said.
“If you have a plant, like a rose with new growth in the springtime, and it has aphids, leave it alone,” she said. “Let it attract ladybugs. The ladybugs will come to where the food is.”
For impatient gardeners unwilling to wait for ladybugs to come along, many nurseries and hardware stores sell ladybugs – it’s about $7 per pint – to be released into a garden.
Other insecticide-free ways to get rid of aphids include using poison-free bug killers, which should be sprayed not only on plants, but also along the plants’ trunks and the ground at the base of the plant, said Antonio Duran, who works in the nursery at Orchard Supply Hardware in Gilroy.
“Soapy water will also kill aphids,” he said. “And since ants sometimes carry aphids from one plant to another, make sure you get rid of the ants, too.”
No matter how bad an aphid problem is, don’t spray anything containing insecticide in a garden, Kotoko said.
“Insecticide will kill good bugs and bad bugs, and can cause other problems,” she said. “For aphids, just wait for the ladybugs. Be patient.”
As a bonus, may cultures consider ladybugs to be good luck, so finding them in your garden means more than just a soon-to-be pest-free zone.
