Natureworks Garden Center
Ladybugs and Lacewings
Ladybugs and Lacewings
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*Please not we do not ship product, we are pick up at the store only*
Two beneficial insects in one package, adult Ladybugs and Lacewing eggs. Adult Ladybugs go to work immediately eating soft bodied pests. Lacewing eggs hatch in 3 to 10 days, larvae consume a wide variety of pests. Each contains 500-1000 count.
LADYBUGS (Hippodamia convergens)
Use: Ladybugs prefer to eat aphids and will devour up to 50 a day, but they will also attack scale, mealy bugs, boil worms, leafhopper, and corn ear worm. They dine only on insects and do not harm vegetation in any way.
Release: Ladybugs should always be released after sundown since they only fly in the daytime. During the night, they will search the area for food and stay as long as there is food for them to eat. The more they eat the more eggs they lay and the more insect eating larvae you will have. It is best if the area has been recently watered. Ladybugs tend to crawl up and toward light. So release them in small groups at the base of plants and shrubs that have aphids or other insects, and in the lower part of trees.
Recommendations: Ladybugs may be kept in the refrigerator after they are received (35-50 degrees F.) and released as needed. Ladybugs received March through May should not be stored more than 2 to 3 days since their body fat has been depleted. From June on, they may be stored 2 to 3 months.
GREEN LACEWINGS (Chrysoperla carnea)
Green Lacewings are predators of many species of pest insects and mites. These attractive pale green insects are an effective natural enemy of aphids, mites, whiteflies, mealybugs, leafhoppers, and thrips.
LIFE CYCLE: Lacewing adults are 1/2 to 3/4 inches long. They have transparent, pale green wings and bright metallic gold eyes (they are also known as “Golden Eyes”). They have a characteristic fluttering flight, and sometimes rise from the plants when disturbed, especially at twilight. Adult Lacewings are not themselves predaceous, but feed on honeydew, nectar and pollen. They lay tiny pale green eggs on hair like stalks attached to the underside of leaves or on bark of trees. In several days the Lacewing larvae hatch from these eggs.
The larvae, which are active searchers, will immediately begin moving over the plant in search of food. These larvae are grayish-brown in color, and 3/8 inch long, and have pincher-shaped jaws which they use to seize their prey and suck the juices from its body. Because they are such voracious aphid eaters (consuming as many as 1,000 aphids each per day), they are called “Aphid Lions”. They also devour a great variety of citrus mealbugs, and cottony-cushion scale.
Maturing after two to three weeks, the Lacewing larvae spin a small cocoon of silken thread. The adult Lacewing emerges five days later by neatly cutting a round, hinged lid at the top of the cocoon. The cycle then repeats itself.
The life cycle of Lacewings is directly influenced by climatic conditions. Under summer conditions a complete life cycle can occur within a month, thus many generations can occur each year. Lacewings over winter as adults, but with difficulty; they should be recolonized each spring.
Please not we do not ship product, we are pick up at the store only
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