Ladybirds

What are ladybirds?

There are over 100 species of ladybird in Australia, and most are beneficial. There are four common garden species, the most common spotted ladybird is bright orange with black dots on its back. Both adults and their larvae are voracious predators of aphids, scale insects and mites. Adults will eat 2,500 aphids during their lifetime. Smaller outbreaks of powdery mildew on plants like pumpkins will be controlled by the Fungus eating ladybird and mealy bugs eaten by the Mealy bug ladybug.

Ladybirds are also known as ladybugs or ladybeetles. The adults are oval, domed in form and range in length from 1 to 10mm, depending on the species. Most ladybirds are brightly coloured and that’s a warning, to potential predators that they may be toxic.

How to attract them

Planting herbs like coriander, fennel and dill will help to attract them to your garden. They don’t like insecticides, being caught out in cold weather, going without water, or visiting very dry gardens. The biggest benefit to having ladybugs in your garden is they control unwanted insect pests without using insecticides.

When are ladybirds not good?

The villain is the 29 spotted or leaf eating ladybird. Adults are up to 1cm long, a light orange colour and they have 28 spots. Both adults and larvae feed on a range of plants- preferring cabbage, potato, and bean. The larvae are a yellowish creamy colour, with a frizzy outline and they feed on the undersides of the leaves. The best way to control these ladybirds is to handpick them from plants.