Ladybugs

Ladybugs seek shelter in cool shady places--like on this tree beside a mountain stream.

What's red and black, has a ferocious appetite and is considered to be a most welcome sight in any garden? The much beloved beetle beauties - ladybugs! These beneficial bugs can be a gardener's best defense.

"Ladybug larvae eat a lot of aphids; then, when they run out of aphids, they'll get into leafhoppers, whiteflies, mealybugs, small caterpillars and moth eggs," says Jeff Hadden, owner of Natural Pest Control. "The adults, too, eat bad bugs. They'll eat pretty much anything that's small that doesn't fight back." In fact, ladybugs will even resort to eating each other if they run out of prey.

Providing ladybugs to gardeners encourages the use of natural pest control. Hadden doesn't harm the beetles, he simply catches and releases the bugs during their semi -dormant state called diapaus. The ladybugs are then distributed to gardeners that might otherwise be forced to resort to using chemicals.

"There's nothing out there in the environment that doesn't have something that eats it," says Hadden. "So if you can find the one thing that will eat the problem you've got, that will control it much better than hitting it with a pesticide."

Guests
Jeff Hadden
Owner
Natural Pest Control
8864 Little Creek Dr.
Orangevale, CA 95662
Phone: 916-726-0855
Website: www.natpestco.com
Also in this Episode

Gardening by the Yard : Episode GBY-707
•	Planting Bulbs in Fall
•	Outsmarting Squirrels
•	Ladybugs
•	Q&A: Lettuce