Ladybugs

Ladybugs: Why We Love Them and Why They Need Our Help

by Morgan Greene

Whether they’re Squash Lady Beetles, American Five-Spotted Lady Beetles, Spotted Pink Lady Beetles or any of the other hundreds of North American species, it’s hard to think of many insects more beloved than ladybugs.(5) About as popular as butterflies and lightning bugs, these brightly colored beetles are almost always a welcome sight. In fact, some say it’s good luck when a ladybug lands on you!

One reason why ladybugs are so widely adored is their agricultural importance. Apart from their dashing good looks, ladybugs are well known in the farming world for guarding apple orchards and other crops from pests such as mites, mealybugs and aphids. In fact, a single ladybug may consume up to 5,000 aphids in its lifetime.(1) Because of their aptitude for pest predation, some farmers and gardeners will purchase ladybugs as an alternative to chemical pesticides.

If you’re considering buying some ladybugs for your own garden, however, you may want to think twice: it can be hard to ensure that the beetles you’re buying are a native species. For example, the convergent ladybug (Hippodamia convergens) is native to North America, but Asian lady beetles (Harmonia axyridis) are not and can interfere with local ecosystems. Additionally, many commercially sold ladybugs are wild-caught, and moving ladybugs out of their natural environment not only disrupts wild populations but can unintentionally introduce diseases and parasites that our local insects are not prepared to deal with.(2)

An Asian Lady Beetle photographed in downtown Wilmington in 2019. Observation © Morgan Freese, inaturalist.org/photos/51293142. No changes made.

Fortunately, there are other ways to entice ladybugs to your home garden. In addition to eating common pests, ladybugs are also pollinators attracted to dill, parsley, geraniums and other similar plants. They’re also fond of dandelions, so there are plenty of benefits to letting your yard run a little wild.(3) Providing shade or a shallow water source is also a good way to entice ladybugs to stop by, but using pesticides can hurt them or drive them away.(4)

Sadly, native ladybug populations in the United States have started to decline over the past couple of decades, and no one is quite sure why.(5) To keep track of the ladybugs and try to figure out why this is happening, Cornell University launched the Lost Ladybug Project, a fun citizen science project that anyone can participate in. All you have to do is take pictures of the ladybugs you see, and upload those pictures to the Lost Ladybug Project at www. lostladybug.org, where you can find more information about the project as well.

Ladybugs, lady beetles, ladybirds— whatever you call them, these polka-dotted beetles are certainly wonderful in more ways than one. Let’s hope we can figure out where they’re going and find a way to bring them home. To everyone grabbing their phones to go find some “lost ladybugs,” good luck and happy hunting!

A Seven-Spotted Lady Beetle photographed at Kure Beach in 2021. Observation © bellumknight, inaturalist.org/photos/128088261. No changes made.

Links:

1. content.ces.ncsu.edu/lady-beetles

2. www.gardenmyths.com/ buy-ladybugs-garden/

3. bee-effect.co.za/white-clover-honey-bees/

4. www.masterclass.com/articles/ how-to-attract-ladybugs-to-your-garden

5. Ladybugs of the US · iNaturalist

Based on: Lovable Ladybugs, from The ArthroBlogger blog, by Morgan Greene.

Morgan Greene is a senior at UNCW majoring in biology with a concentration in freshwater and terrestrial conservation. She enjoys sharing fun facts about insects and other tiny animals on her blog, The ArthroBlogger, found at thearthroblogger.com.