Good Guys in the Garden: Ladybugs

Not all ladybugs are ladies. There are boy  adybugs and girl ladybugs.

Females lay their eggs in yellow clusters under a leaf or stem often near a colony of aphids (tiny garden pests that damage many plants.) Within a week, the eggs hatch into alligator-shaped larvae that start gobbling up the aphids, tiny worms and a variety of insect eggs that gardeners are happy to get rid of!

Ladybugs have a life cycle that is similar to the butterfly.  They go through a complete metamorphosis during their 8-week life.

LADYBUG FACTS

• A female ladybug will lay more than 1000 eggs in her lifetime but they are so small you can hardly see them.
  
  
• Ladybugs chew from side to side and not up and down like people do.
  
  
• A gallon jar will hold from 72,000 to 80,000.
  
  
• The lady bug uses its front legs to clean it’s head and it’s antennae.
  
  
• The spots on a ladybug fade as the ladybug gets older.
  
  
• Not all lady bugs are female.