Ladybugs

This appeared in the May 20, 2021 edition of The Fish Wrap

Bugs are an important part of a healthy ecosystem. Plant eating bugs choose the less healthy plants, culling the bed so the healthier plants can thrive. And balance will be restored when the predator bugs come to eat the plant eaters. Still, seeing an aphid chow down on a beet leaf is a chilling sight. Luckily, we’ve been seeing lots of ladybugs on the farm lately. These superheroes with voracious appetites are a welcome sight!

Ladybugs got their name during the middle ages when people prayed to the Virgin Mary to save their crops from swarms of plant-eating insects. The Ladybugs came to the rescue and people called them the bug of our lady, shortened to ladybug. Their bright color is a warning to birds that they are protected with a toxin. Ladybug larvae look and eat like hungry alligators. Then they go into a pupa stage, then emerge transformed like a butterfly. The spotted wings that we see are just protective covers for their clear, functional wings. They live from 1-3 years, going dormant in cooler weather. 

Aphids like to eat new growth in the Spring and ladybugs come out of dormancy when their body temperature reaches 75, just in time to save the sprouts. A ladybug will eat over 5,000 aphids in a year. They eat other plant eaters besides aphids, and some species eat mildew. 

Some people purchase ladybugs for pest control, but we like to let nature take its course. We try to have things blooming around the garden all year long to make it attractive to friends like the ladybug. Pests like aphids are just the clean up crew, eating less healthy plants and cycling nutrients. Ladybugs help keep them in check and the healthy sprouts grow up into strong, resilient, nutrient dense vegetables.