Ladybugs and Butterflies

11 years ago

I've got a bit of an aphid issue in my tomatoes right now. Reading up, I saw the suggestion of ladybugs to manage them, and thought that sounded like a fun solution. But reading a little more, I found claims that ladybugs also eat moth eggs. My question- do they feed on other beneficial or at least interesting bugs I might want to protect? In particular, I have a small butterfly garden not all that far from my tomatoes (milkweed, assorted flowers) and don't want to just be setting up a butterfly trap...

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Comments (3)

little_minnie
11 years ago
No you have nothing to worry about. I have lady bugs and butterflies like crazy.
User
11 years ago
Ladybugs and their larvae will eat almost any small, soft-bodied insect such as aphids. It MIGHT include a small newly hatched caterpillar if they found it ... but they aren't going to annihilate your butterflies and caterpillars.

Aphids are their preferred prey because they are easy to catch.
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kimmq
11 years ago
The Lady Beetle, Lady Bug, "Coccineludae", or little red sphere, and its larva will eat many soft bodied insects including Aphids, Scale, Mealy Bugs, Leaf Hoppers, Mites, as well as pollen if other food sources are not available which is why all gardens should flowers included.

Like the list of "target" insects on many insecticides you will not see a list of otherwise beneficial insects predators may munch on, but most often that is not a problem.

kimmq is kimmsr