Little M photos - LADYBUGS!

Thank you to those who requested more of my marvelously talented cousin's photos! This week, in honor of BB's ladybug dress, we have a lovely assortment of ladybug pics for you.

To purchase photos of various cool critters by Little M, visit: http://www.viewbug.com/estore/littlemphoto

Ladybugs are the queen of beneficial garden insects. They are aphid-eating machines. Both adults and larvae will voraciously consume these soft-bodied pests. Ladybugs can be purchased and released in the garden. The best time to do this is in the evening, and make sure to water the garden first. Many people consider green lacewing larvae to be a better deal in terms of buying beneficial insects, because the ladybugs have a tendency to "fly away home".

However, green lacewing larvae are not nearly as cute as ladybugs, and don't have the funny smiley eyes. This is a scientific fact and sources will be cited at the end. In order to attract ladybugs and other beneficial insects to a garden, there are several things you can do.

1. Plant a diversity of native species. You want variety in height, type, flowering time, color, fruit / seed, deciduous / evergreen, etc. A short list off the top of my head of plants known for their beneficial insect-attracting prowess are:

• Achillea millefolium (yarrow)
• Eriogonum fasciculatum (buckwheat - any native buckwheat, really, not just this one)
• Baccharis pilularis (coyote brush)
• Asclepias fascicularis (narrow-leaf milkweed - any native milkweed, not just this one)
• Salvia spp. (any native sage, but know that sagebrush is not a sage...it's in the wormwood family. You want a true safe like black sage or pitcher)
• Penstemon spp., (Penstemon)
• And then the holy trinity of native California shrub-trees - Ceanothus spp. (California Lilac), Rhamnus californica (California coffeeberry), and Arctostaphylos spp. (Manzanita).

2. Don't use synthetic fertilizers. Don't use chemical pesticides or herbicides.

3. Have readily available water, and keep some areas of your garden as insect habitat, like a piece of a log, some big rocks, or an area by a fence.

4. Talk to your beneficial garden insects in a special voice, encourage them, point out aphids they may have missed. (Optional)

Ladybugs are sexually dimorphous, with the females usually being larger than the male. The number of spots is just individual variation, and does not correlate to age or species. There are about 5000 species of ladybugs worldwide, but the most common one in the United States is the Convergent Lady Beetle (Hippodamia convergens).

There are tons of wonderful website about beneficial garden insects and ladybugs in particular.

• Ladybug Lady - this site is SO fun, and chock full of information.
• Our Water Our World - 10 most wanted garden insects
• Materials and Resources List about Beneficial Garden Insects
• Ladybug activities for kids, and some school materials too.

In order to scientifically prove that ladybugs are cute, you'll just have to plant some native California plants and watch them zoom around looking for aphids.

Enjoy, and don't forget to visit Michelle's shop!