Red shelled with black spots. Don't confuse with the Potato bug with the same coloring and spots. Potato bugs usually have blotchier spots and not as round. They are bigger than the normal ladybug and they eat your garden. Larvae are black with orange spots. Larvae and adults eat small insects such as aphids, thrips, scales, spider mites, whiteflies, and insect eggs. Release them later in season so that there will be enough pests for them to eat. Release them on the ground and cover with straw. Then place the straw with lady bugs on them near your plants.
Use plants such as alfalfa, goldenrod, morning-glories, and angelica to attract their attention. Any good pollen and nectar ridden plants will work. They also like ragweed so if you have some of that around, make sure it's not in your garden but outside somewhere where it cannot invade your territory.
Lacewings
Light green insects with lacy wings. Very beautiful. Most effective of all the beneficials. Larvae feed on aphids, whiteflies, eggs, scale, earworms, thrips, and other pests. Adults eat pollen and nectar. The larva like to eat each other so when you release, make sure you place them at varying distances from each other. Eggs are more difficult to handle so beware that some may have hatched already in shipment and you will need to place them in small crevices and caverns on your plants.
Plant pollen and nectar type plants in your garden to attract. They like carrots, yarrow, lettuce, and oleander. Plant some of these to attract them.
Parasitic Wasp
Types include Braconid, Chalcid, Ichneumonid, and Trichogramma. These beneficials lay their eggs in or on caterpillars and larvae of other beetles or on these pests' eggs.
Braconids like humid areas. When purchased, they come as eggs. You place the eggs on your plants the best way you can. They prefer to attack worms of varying types and aphids.
Chalcids are nearly microscopical. They like aphids, beetles, hoppers, and caterpillars. They lay eggs in and sometimes actually eat the host.
Ichneumonids like caterpillars and larvae. Use in conjunction with Bt spray for better control.
Trichogammas are the most well known of the above. They attack the egg stage. The wasp larva eats its host when it hatches. Adults like nectar from weeds and wildflowers. They attack aphids, moths, worms, whiteflies, caterpillars and other larvae.
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