I did last year. I ordered 1500 ladybugs and put them on my cherry tree. The encrusting layers of black aphids were gone within a couple of weeks. It was fun watching them, too. I found eggs, instars, pupa, and adult ladybugs crawling all over my tree.

Definitely beats spraying edible fruit with poisonous substances.

I *think* I got them at Gardener's Supply, if I remember right. They cost $17.50, just slightly more than a penny a bug. Maybe 100 didn't make the trip, but they said that would probably happen.

I was right. Here we go.

Here is a link that might be useful: Ladybugs

In most cases ordering insects doesn't work out very well for pest control.

Why not?

Well, here is why not...

If the conditions in your yard are ideal for a particular insect they will simply arrive and take up residence. If conditions are not ideal they won't.

If conditions are not ideal for the insect and you order a bunch, they will just leave your yard in search of more hospitable territory.

The only exception I can wrap my brain around is when you know your yard offers ideal conditions, but the general area you live in does not. In this case you may need to import in order to have any of the insect. Aside from this rather rare exception, I see no value in spending money on insects that will just move out of one's yard.

Thanks for the info lilacs_of_may and thanks for the insight justaguy2. I appreciate it!

If you have a local nursery (not ignorant, big-box chain stores), they often carry live insects (out of sight, in a refrigerator), so ask and avoid shipping charges.

Spray your garden area with water before releasing them. Ladybugs should be released just before dusk, so they can drink and find a place to spend the night. If you have aphids, they may well stick around. If you don't, they would probably leave.

This is probably redundant, but you do know that those little orange/black 'alligators' are lady bug larvae, right?

Sue

I've had good luck ordering lady bugs from territorial seed company. Last year I got them every couple of months and managed to not lose anything completely to aphids (although I did some soap and water spraying and it was a cool summer so that probably helped)
Stacey

Well, gee. It worked for me.

I think a lot of them did fly off, which benefited the neighborhood, I guess. But enough of them stayed or flew back and had quite a feast of aphids. And I have to figure that there are now plenty in the neighborhood, so if I have bugs again there's more liklihood of ladybugs finding out and coming back to feast again.

And a penny a bug doesn't break the bank.

The past couple of years I have noticed a lot of what I think are aphid larvae on my rose of sharon. I was worried about them moving on to the veggie garden and was thinking about purchasing ladybugs when I saw some freaky looking black and red bugs also. Luckily I remembered reading on these forums about lady bug larvae and sure enough, that's what the freaky looking bugs were! In a few weeks, no more aphids, lots of ladybugs and veggie garden was safe!

Not sure what the moral to the story is other than the freaky looking bugs may be your friends.

Lady bugs are great for cleaning up the aphids, but in terms of getting the most bang, insects are like people--the teenagers will eat you out of house and home, the adults just eat more reasonably.

Adult ladybugs eat aphids, but the little "gila monster" larvae are the really heavy eaters. So, if you can get the adults to lay eggs, then the kids will clean up your problems--and they won't fly away.

They did a great job for me.

I've ordered from CY Line Biotic, which is located in California and from March Biological, which is located in Oregon. Both are comparably priced and either will ship via USPS Priority Mail, which avoids expensive overnight or 2-day shipping costs.

BTW, you might want to consider releasing in stages. Release what you want, then just pop the rest into the fridge. They'll keep for at least a week or two. Then, release the rest - kinda like a Double Whammie!

Anyway, both companies include instructions on how/when to release.

Good luck and have a great growing season!

Honestly the key is probably to buy as close to wear you live as possible - less time in a hot truck to kill them.
Stacey

Thanks rdback, I didn't know you could keep them in the fridge... crazy, but cool!

I got maybe 5 ladybugs in a little plastic condiment container for free from the local farmer's market last year.

They came with instructions to release them at night and spritz them with Coca Cola before release. It supposedly keeps them from being able to fly long enough for them to get comfortable and lay eggs.

I released them on my plum tree. A day or two later I could only find one, maybe 2 still on my aphid infested tree. But within a couple of weeks it was just teeming with ladybugs in various stages of maturity.

I've seem a couple of ladybugs in my yard this year, not on the plum tree yet, but having seen them reproduce last year I know they are capable of multiplying very quickly.

That's pretty much the way it was for me. I released over a thousand ladybugs one evening. The next day I checked my yard and found less than half a dozen. But over the next several days I found tons in the cherry tree where I'd released them: eggs, pupa, instars, and adults, including two adults doing the wild thing on a cherry leaf. :-) Most probably flew off when the aphids were gone, but I still continued to see quite a few.

This year I've seen several, but nowhere near as many. I'm sure they're around, though, if not in my yard then somewhere in the neighborhood.