Ladybug larvae are among the best-known and most popular beneficial insects in the home garden. It helps to keep a wide variety of pests in check or to prevent their spread from the outset. Those who do not want to leave the occurrence of beneficial insects to chance can specifically promote them and favor them at their own location. We use helpful tips to explain how to use them safely in your own garden.
Ladybird larvae in your own garden
The ladybird literally brings luck to those who find it or who live in their own garden. In practical terms, it can actually be called a stroke of luck that these animals make a significant contribution to keeping pests in check. Because both the ladybug and its larvae prefer to feed on the number one garden pest - the aphid:
- E.g. Seven-point ladybirds: from around 100 to 150 lice per day
- Ladybird larvae from hatching to pupation approx. 400 to 600 lice
It becomes clear that even a few animals can make an enormous contribution to containing an infestation. But don't leave their appearance in the garden to chance. Promote the beneficial insects in a targeted manner and use them optimally to your advantage:
The winter quarters
In spring, when the temperature slowly rises again after the cold winter nights, pests can explode. So that the right beneficial insect is present when the aphid appears, it is worth finding suitable ones for the ladybird in the garden
To offer winter opportunities. If he finds a sufficiently high temperature for a sheltered winter rigor without the risk of frostbite, he wakes up in spring at the same time as the lice appear and is hungry as a bear Plant. And the reproduction is also much faster in favor of pest control, if the beetles do not have to gradually migrate back into the garden. Good winter quarters with a sufficiently high temperature are:- pile of leaves
- Dead wood with cracks, crevices and holes
- Compost heap
- Cracks and cavities on garden walls, sheds, garages, etc.
- Special insect nesting boxes
The feed offer
In addition to aphids, ladybugs also like to plaster pollen. In a meticulously short-mowed ornamental garden with English lawn and precisely cut boxwood balls, a ladybird will therefore find it difficult to settle. On the other hand, surroundings that are as natural as possible attract them in droves and offer a good basis for all phases of the beetle's life. From there it will be happy to hunt down the unpleasant pests for your benefit.
Ladybugs find particularly good conditions on the following plants:
- yarrow
- Marigold
- dandelion
- mustard
- Sea lavender
- Stone herb
- Corn poppy
If, on the other hand, you want to benefit from the plants yourself, take advantage of them
common aromatic plants, such as- dill
- fennel
- Caraway seed
- coriander
- chives
- chamomile
ATTENTION: Remember that the plants only benefit the ladybug if they are actually allowed to bloom! If, on the other hand, you are pruned, mowed, or otherwise removed before flowering, you will not achieve the goal of your efforts!
Mixed cultures
Use the knowledge of the last tip and make it easier for the ladybug to find the aphids in the garden. If the flowering plants are placed between the useful and ornamental plants to be protected, the Paths from the pollen supply to the favorite food are kept short and the beetles will find their way to their destination quickly and secure.
NOTE: Get rid of the thought that by favoring the ladybug larvae you will get a garden completely free of aphids. If the aphid is gone, the ladybug disappears too. Ultimately, however, there will always be a balance between pests and beneficial insects. This is usually at a level that your plants do not suffer from it and the "infestation" can be accepted. If individual plants are particularly important to you, focus your efforts so that the beetles find and eliminate the lice that live there first.
Ants
We humans do not like the aphid and we fight it with all means. On the other hand, it looks different with ants. They milk the lice and thus ensure part of their diet. Logically, as the guardian and protector of the aphids, the ant is one of the declared enemies of the ladybirds, who in turn are only too happy to plaster the lice. Therefore, to protect your ladybug population, intervene when too many ants oppose your efforts. They can be kept away from plants, for example, with:
- Strong-smelling aromatic plants such as lavender, thyme or marjoram
- Moist soil around the plant, so regular watering
- The absence of significant lice populations (early promotion of ladybirds)
ATTENTION: One reads again and again that ant nests should be poured over with boiling water or destroyed with baking powder. Because the ant next to this unloved
The habit of caring for aphids also has numerous useful properties, the cut quickly goes into its own flesh when the animals are killed. It is better to keep them away from the particularly sensitive plants. In a healthy garden with flowering plants and a wide range of offers, it is also easy to cope with a few ladybugs falling victim to the ant. In the long run, there will be a healthy balance between ants, aphids and ladybirds. Set ladybug larva.Buy and release beneficial insects
If you don't want to trust that the spotted beetles will find their way into the garden by themselves and reproduce, you can also buy and release the ladybird larvae in a targeted manner. In this way, a high population can be ensured right from the start. In addition, the beneficial insects can be released exactly where there is an acute need for action against lice. It is important that the living conditions in the garden are still geared towards the new visitor. If the conditions are not right, however, even deliberately exposed ladybird larvae migrate to other locations over the long term.
ATTENTION: Many commercially available ladybird larvae do not come from the native seven-point ladybird, but from other species that are easier to breed. These have their origin mostly in Asia and are considered to be neozoon in our country. They can displace the native beetles and bring in parasites and diseases.
Do not apply poison
Inexperienced gardeners often feel that they have to support the natural balance between pests and beneficials by applying insecticides. Remember that beneficial organisms, here the ladybird larvae, are also insects. Many poisons are unspecific and also kill ladybugs. It is true that today various means promise to selectively only eliminate pests. The long-term effects on beneficial insects, on the other hand, are hardly known, so that the application of these substances usually has unpleasant side effects. In addition, it is difficult for the user of the insecticide to estimate how the interference with the natural ones Circulation elsewhere shows effect when simply a link from a food chain in the form of pests Will get removed.
