From a young age, we were taught that ladybugs bring good luck.And she is a real little happiness. Especially for our gardeners, she is our ally in the fight against plant pests.
The month of May has started off quite rainy here. Frequent rains and warm weather favor the development of various plant pests. Since we try to produce organic food, our ally in the fight against these pests is the ladybug. When a ladybug appears on a plant or tree, it means that that plant already has pests on it, even though we don't see them right away.
We were walking around our orchard and noticed a lot of ladybugs on the leaves of the trees. We knew there were pests. We physically removed the infected leaves with scissors and left the ladybugs on the tree. Ours is expecting more rain so there will be work for both the ladybugs and us.
While preparing for this post, I further researched our ladybug ally.
Ladybugs are known in the insect world as extremely useful predators. The main food of ladybugs
Aphids: This is their main and favorite food. A single ladybug can eat up to 5,000 aphids in its lifetime.
Shield lice: Tiny insects that often attack fruit and ornamental plants.
Mites: Small parasites that damage garden plants.
Whitefly: Another common pest in gardens and greenhouses.
Larvae and eggs of other insects:
Including the eggs of butterflies, moths and various bugs.
Alternative food (when there are no insects) When there is not enough live prey available, ladybugs can temporarily switch to plant food in order to survive: Pollen and nectar: From the flowers of plants, which provides them with the necessary energy. Sweet juices: Juices from ripe and damaged fruits ( grapes or figs).
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Thanks for reading.
Until next time.
Stay healthy.
Markone85.
