lady bird beetle larva - Harmonia axyridis

Moved

Moved from Multicolored Asian Lady Beetle.

… Domingo Zungri, 5 July, 2009 - 8:13am

they eat eggs, each other, and aphids!

They're not as cannibalistic as some predatory nymphs (like praying mantises), but are very prone to eating lady beetle eggs of any species, including their own.

Find a plant with lots of aphids and put the lady beetle larvae on different stems, so they encounter the aphids and not each other. If you rear them on small plant clippings indoors, you may have to replenish the aphid supply occasionally.

… Abigail M. Parker, 19 June, 2009 - 12:11pm

Thank you. I am surrounde

Thank you.

I am surrounded by many acres of native vegetation and aphids are a rare find. What else might they eat?

Ilse Gebhard

… Ilse Gebhard, 19 June, 2009 - 12:36pm

Some species specialize on mi

Some species specialize on mites and scales, and if there aren't many aphids in your native vegetation, you might be able to find plant mites and scales more easily. (These larvae are too young for me to get a species ID on.) Any species of lady beetle will eat insect eggs and small, soft-bodied insects if it can't find its favorite prey - they don't specialize so much that they'll starve!

I do find aphids on some native vegetation - Amaranthus species especially (amaranths, pigweeds, lambs' quarters). My favorite caterpillar eats amaranth, so I look at every plant I see, and recently they've all had big clusters of black aphids under the leaves.

… Abigail M. Parker, 19 June, 2009 - 1:08pm

Between thunder squalls I wen

Between thunder squalls I went out and found some black aphids on some milkweed and put them in with the lady beetle larva. It will be interesting to watch. Hope they are some native lady beetles.

… Ilse Gebhard, 19 June, 2009 - 5:14pm

ID'ing lady beetle larvae

After the first few black instars the larvae develop distinctive colors and patterns. There's an Eggs, Larvae, and Pupae image section on the Guide.

The non-native multicolored Asian lady beetle is one of the easiest larvae to identify:

Even MABs are useful aphid predators, especially the larvae, which can't go flying around reproducing! I sometimes donate them to greenhouses, where the adults can eat aphids but are less likely to get out and compete with native lady beetles.

… Abigail M. Parker, 21 June, 2009 - 10:48am

So would it be best not to re

So would it be best not to release them until I know that it is a native beetle? I read that the larva stage can be 20-30 days, so the ID part may be a while?
Thanks for all the help.

… Ilse Gebhard, 21 June, 2009 - 1:14pm

That's what I would do. I hav

That's what I would do. I haven't raised lady beetles from eggs so I'm not sure how long it takes for them to reach the more colorful instars. They'll be happy to eat aphids indoors till then! Good luck!

… Abigail M. Parker, 21 June, 2009 - 1:20pm

lady beetle larva

I've added a photo of 6 day old larva for ID request to see if the species can be determined yet.

… Ilse Gebhard, 24 June, 2009 - 9:41am