Guard duty

[Subrosa]

Yeah, come on aphids, try it!

[No-Pro-mwa]

She's ready and waiting, Yep there all girls

[Optimist]

Corporal Ladybug on duty!

[Dollythehun]

Too cute!

[camille1585]

Hate to break it to you, but that looks like Harmonia axyridis, the asian ladybug... (though a bit hard to tell based on the angle and soft focus).

[Subrosa]

Originally Posted by camille1585

Hate to break it to you, but that looks like Harmonia axyridis, the asian ladybug... (though a bit hard to tell based on the angle and soft focus).

I believe you're right. They were here when I moved in last fall. Aside from being non native they perform the same function as our native species.

[camille1585]

Originally Posted by Subrosa

I believe you're right. They were here when I moved in last fall. Aside from being non native they perform the same function as our native species.

Correct that they are non native and perform the same function, but it comes at a very high cost for the native species. Harmonia reproduce faster than the natives and are very voracious, even eating the larvae of the native species.Theyve also been shown to carry a fungus deadly for the natives. As a result the native species populations are in decline in North America and in Europe. In areas where Harmonia is very successful the natives are all but wiped out and are in decline everywhere else. The 9 spotted one is in serious trouble.Thethe problem is compounded by habitat loss. The Asian ladybug is an ecological disaster, and I have no mercy on them.

[Leafmite]

Originally Posted by camille1585

Correct that they are non native and perform the same function, but it comes at a very high cost for the native species. Harmonia reproduce faster than the natives and are very voracious, even eating the larvae of the native species.Theyve also been shown to carry a fungus deadly for the natives. As a result the native species populations are in decline in North America and in Europe. In areas where Harmonia is very successful the natives are all but wiped out and are in decline everywhere else. The 9 spotted one is in serious trouble.Thethe problem is compounded by habitat loss. The Asian ladybug is an ecological disaster, and I have no mercy on them.

I am not fond of the Asian ones, either, as they not only bite but they actually eat the fruit. The native ones do neither.

Interestingly enough, for many years, we had the Asian lady bugs everywhere (farmers were using them on the soybean fields) but, lately, I have been seeing the little red-spotted ones once more. Last spring, I ordered some of the native lady bugs and all summer, I found plenty for the rest of the summer (I usually don't find many after a few weeks). I wonder if pesticides are killing off the Asian lady bugs but allowing the natives to live as the natives don't usually munch on the fruit like the Asian ones do?

[Leafmite]

I love lady bugs. I have a few of the native type indoors on my plants every winter...they sneak inside somehow.

[Dollythehun]

So, we see very few Asian lady beetles or natives now. They used to be prolific on our polar trees. However we are over run by brown marmated stink bugs.