Ladybug

Lady beetles, often called Ladybugs, are the most commonly known of all beneficial insects.

• Adult lady beetles are domed shaped, oval or convex, often shiny with short legs and antennae. Wing covers are dark, reddish-orange to pale yellow, with or without black spots or irregular marks. Some are solid black or black with a red spot. The head is concealed from above.

• The length of the life cycle varies depending upon temperature, humidity, and food supply.
• Usually the life cycle from egg to adult requires about three to four weeks, or up to six weeks during cooler spring months.
• In the spring, overwintering adults find food, then lay from fifty to three hundred eggs in her lifetime (tiny, light -yellow eggs are deposited in clusters of 10 to 50 each) in aphid colonies.
• Eggs hatch in three to five days, and larvae feed on aphids or other insects for two to three weeks, then pupate.
• Adults emerge in seven to ten days. There may be five to six generations per year.
• In the autumn, adults hibernate, sometimes in large numbers, in plant refuse and crevices.
• During the autumn, lady beetles crawl to overwintering sites where a few to several hundred will gather in an aggregation. The aggregation site may be located at the base of a tree, along a fence row, under a fallen tree, or under a rock. Beetles are always found under leaves which protect them from cold winter temperatures.
• Sometimes beetles become a nuisance by their presence when congregating in and around homes. Some congregate in large numbers on the sunny side of the house. Caulk and seal spaces and gaps to prevent them from coming inside. Physically remove lady beetles found indoors.