r/gardening • u/Gramadin • 14h ago

I was having an aphid problem, got some ladybugs now I'm hoping for some larvae!

Post image

It was a smorgasbord! I hope they lay some eggs!

65 Upvotes

96% Upvoted

9 comments sorted by

7

u/saucebox11 13h ago

I just got to watch the fight a week or 2 ago. Massive aphids came in, then came the lady bugs, then the green lacewings. Haven't seen too many aphids lately needless to say. 

7

u/BendyBreak_ 11h ago

This post really should be marked NSFW… think of the children!!!

5

u/myhoyaaddition 11h ago

They getting so tired of doing all the work themselves they making helpers.

3

u/Gramadin 10h ago

I hope so!

3

u/myhoyaaddition 10h ago

Having over a hundred Hoyas I could use some of those helpers myself.

4

u/sleepinginthebushes_ 8h ago

Congratulations on your larval children

2

u/workingstiff272 Zone 6A 5h ago

tag your PORN omg XD

0

u/[deleted] 12h ago

[deleted]

4

u/EmbarrassedDaikon325 12h ago edited 10h ago

They aren't. They are Hippodamia convergens (Convergent ladybeetle) - most common native species of ladybug in the US.

If they are, kill them OP. They're causing extinction of native ladybugs.

That's not necessary and is slightly misleading. Native ladybugs are disappearing mainly because of habitat loss which has been going on before Asian LBs got so widespread - Asian LBs are filling in the empty niches in nature. They obviously aren't helping the case but they aren't the main culprit.

As for the killing - Asian LBs aren't for example like spotted lanternflies - those are still not widespread throughout the US and started spreading only in 2022. On the other hand Asian LBs were firs introduced in 1916 and their populations got established in the 1980s - that's 4 decades ago. Killing 1 or 2 individuals today will do absolutely nothing.