It is considered in many cultures good luck to find a lady beetle in your home or yard but when they become too numerous people just do not want to deal with them.
#COCCINELLA SP HOW TO#
Many people ask how to control lady beetles in the home.They should understand how beneficial they are and how they fit into the natural scheme of nature. Adults can live as long as 2 to 3 years under optimal conditions. Development from egg to adult depends on the weather and when the spring is cool, development can last 36 days or longer. Eggs hatch in about 3 to 5 days with the larval stage lasting 12 to 14 days and the pupal stage lasting 5 to 6 days. In the spring, the majority of the adults leave their overwintering sites and mate later in the spring. In addition these beetles may get in picnic food and drinks, “swarm” like bees and land on people. They begin seeking shelter, to overwinter, from about mid-October to early November and appear in peoples’ homes on warm sunny days as early as February and March. Despite the fact that it is an effective biological control agent it has become a major nuisance to homeowners because of its habit of invading houses and buildings in large numbers. The multicoloured Asian lady beetle, Harmonia axyridis, was introduced as a biological control agent in the United States in 1979 and it quickly spread throughout North America. This also keeps predators away because many of them will not eat an insect that does not move. Another defensive habit that lady beetles exhibit is to play dead when they feel that they are in danger. The lady beetle’s bright colours are probably advertising that they taste bad. This toxic blood is a defensive weapon against predators because it smells and tastes bad. If a lady beetle is poked with a pin or a small twig, the beetle will respond by releasing toxic, sticky blood from its leg joints, a phenomenon known as reflex bleeding. Both adults and larvae of the Mexican bean beetle eat the lower surface of bean leaves leaving them with a lacy appearance. Upon inspection of these beetles you will notice that they are less convex in shape than most of the members of this family and they tend to be dirty yellow in colour rather than bright black and red. One of these lady beetles is the Mexican bean beetle, Epilachna varivestis, which is a serious pest of bean crops. There are a few species of lady beetles that eat plants. Most lady beetles are predators that feed on other insects that eat and damage plants, mostly aphids and scale insects but also psyllids and adelgids. For example, an adult female convergent lady beetle can consume up to 75 aphids a day while the smaller male may consume up to 40! One larva may eat up to 350 aphids during its life. When the adults emerge they too feed on aphids, but as fall approaches they may eat some pollen, which supplies fat for winter hibernation.Ī lady beetle’s appetite is remarkable. In about a month the larvae will pupate this stage lasts about a week. Despite its small size it can deliver a distinct bite. Just looking at its sickle-shaped jaws will tell you so. It is alligator-shaped and covered with bumps and spines. The larva is a rather fearsome looking beast. The larvae hatch in about a week and start to eat aphids or other appropriate food. Female beetles deposit their eggs in clusters of up to a dozen per mass. When spring arrives, the adults leave their winter homes and fly to fields and yards where mating takes place. In North America, most lady beetles appear to go through one generation each year.Īdults of a common species known as the convergent lady beetle, Hippodamia convergens, spend the winter in protected hiding places such as log piles, buildings, leaf piles, ground covering vegetation and similar niches where many hundreds of these beetles cluster together. Like all beetles, the lady beetles go through what is known as a complete metamorphosis with distinct egg, larva, pupa, and adult stages. The Germans call them '' Marienkafer '' or '' Mary’s beetles ''. The French call them '' les bêtes du bon Dieu '' or '' creatures of the good Lord '' and '' les vaches de la Vierge '' or '' cows of the Virgin ''. Most people have a good opinion of them because of their eating habits and their attractive appearance. Most species of lady beetles, also known as lady bird beetles or lady bugs, are considered to be beneficial because they consume huge numbers of plant-feeding insects, mostly aphids. There are approximately 4,000 species found worldwide and over 350 kinds are found in North America. Lady beetles belong to the beetle family Coccinellidae, which means “little sphere”.
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