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Ladybugs for Mealie control
Ray,
I figure that if they eat their fill of mealybugs (and I don't have a huge infestation) and erradicate them it was worth the $8 I paid. I hope they do move on after that and go into my garden to eat their fill of bugs out there. If a few hang around to keep the mealybugs under control they are welcome. Gene "Ray @ First Rays Orchids" wrote in message ... I tried them a couple of years ago in my GH, and they worked fine. The problem is that your 1800 ladybugs will eat a lot, and I certainly hope you don't have THAT big of a mealie problem. They're going to run out of food quickly and will escape in search of more or will die quickly unless you supplement the food. You can probably but bug food at the pace they came from. -- Ray Barkalow First Rays Orchids http://www.firstrays.com Secure Online Ordering & Lots of Free Info! "Gene Schurg" wrote in message hlink.net... If you do a search on Google for "ladybird beetle" you will find there are several different varieties of Lady Bugs. One specifically eats mealybugs. There are stories about how they brought this one into save the crops where mealies were killing everything. From what I read all of them eat mealies and soft bodied insects but prefer aphids and soft scale (hmmm think I saw some of that too in my plants). I figure if they can't get any aphids they will resort to whatever they can find and that will be mealies! Keeping them in place is not a problem since my Greenhouse is a closed environment except when I open the doors. I figure 1,800 Ladybugs scouring the plants for softbodied bugs is a good thing. It would take them a while to find the openings to the outside. If they move out into my garden when the weather warms that's a good thing too. I'll let you all know how this experiment progresses. Good Growing, Gene |
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