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Where are the Ladybugs !

9 years ago

Ladybugs are hibernating in the high country in California it’s the Sierra foothills, on the east coast it their mountain ranges, they will be coming to the flat lands shortly after March 1st to feed and reproduce and live until next fall and winter where they will migrate back to the high county. Someone once asked how does such a small insect manage to fly all that great distance? Answer: They are masters of the Jet Streams! They instinctually know when it’s time to catch that one Jet Stream to take them exactly were they need to go. Either to the High County or Flat lands exiting and entering the jet stream is just as important as picking which Jet stream. A few years ago they almost got off too late and almost landed in the ocean landing on a beach instead.

http://historyoftheladybug.blogspot.com/

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Comments (6)

larry_gene
9 years ago
Air temperature in jet streams is too cold for insect flight. Some might rarely get updrafted in extreme weather to jet stream altitude, but they would not be consciously flying.
laisseraller
Original Author
9 years ago
Interesting you are then comparing Ladybug migration to
something like the migration of the butterflies, and the actually photos of the
ladybugs in flight in the jet streams was just a rare once accordance?
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There is not much that is so selective that it would kill off only certain insects, much less just some of the Lady beetle family, and not kill off others. The best way to increase the population of any predatory insect in your area is to provide an alternative food and moisture source as well as appropriate shelter. That means that in addition to insects they predate flowers that produce the pollen they live on when there is not enough of the target insects around.
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Bad Chuck, bad, bad Chuck ! You go to your room and think about what you have done and don't come out until you can apologize. About the ladybugs... Don't give up yet. When ladybugs are shipped and stored ready for you to purchase, they are kept refrigerated so they don't get hungry. (all except that ride in the UPS truck, when they must wake up and get confused, poor dears ). So once you bought them and brought them home, then released them at a wonderful food source, they most often eat for awhile then lay eggs. It's obviously a great spring in their thoughts. So keep an eye out for eggs, larva, and pupa. In fact, if the plastic bag you tossed is still there, I would go and check there, since they lay the eggs where the larva will find food. I will find a picture for you and add a link. And a story: Back in the early 1980's we had a severe freezing spell here in Portland, and it seemed not only was the bag bug situation greatly improved that year, our local neighborhood colony of ladybugs had gone missing. Fortunately my neighbors , like yours, do not use chemicals in their yards, and we have a group of us that all garden and compare notes over the years. What we did was agree between four households, to each buy a min.of one bag of ladybugs per month of the garden season. That put at least one bunch out each week. It seemed to have worked since they where here, though smaller in number than before the following spring, with a nice increase for several years after. We'll never really know if it was our combined efforts or if the natural population somehow had stayed very well hidden, leaving the aphids to party on, or if it was our plan that worked. Personally I think it was us. Ya team. :) EDIT :Oh, oh... didn't look at the date of the original post. 2008 ! I guess the bag of plant shards has been picked up by the trash guys now. LOL Here is a link that might be useful: Pictures as promised This post was edited by plaidbird on Tue, Apr 23, 13 at 23:21
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I don't know what you are looking for Ladybugs for. I know they do control aphids but buying Ladybugs isn't worth it since they are nomads. They may clean a plant or two then they move on. They seldom return to your plants or garden space. If I knew what you are trying to control with the Ladybugs I may offer an alternate method of control. Here is a link that might be useful: Paul's Pepper Place
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Keep in mind that the ladybugs will eat all your aphids then fly away trying to find other food. They may not even stay long enough to eat your aphids. I was told to release them at night, so they won't fly off. They'll sleep all night, then look for food in your garden the next day.
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larry_gene
9 years ago
Your original text above is fanciful and pleasant enough, much of it is based in fact.

The only way to photograph tiny creatures in the jet stream would be to ease a manned or robotic balloon into the stream, so that it was travelling at the same speed as, and very close to, the insects. Not sure how you could time that out.

Birds and insects fall en masse from the sky occasionally; they get caught up in extreme conditions there. I would think a hailstorm would harm migrating Monarch butterflies, for example. There have been reports on this forum over the years of strayed moths, way out of their normal range, borne on hurricane winds.
laisseraller
Original Author
9 years ago
last modified: 9 years ago
History speaks for it self, I am not the only one that
believes in what you call fanciful using Jet streams to travel. You make it sound like they have to enter the
Interior of the Jet stream where I am sure yes you will need more than a robotic
balloon more like a very powerful drone to verify that and I am sure there are skeptic
that want more proof in this theory and if scientist could strap a tracking
device on the ladybugs legs to track them they would have already done that. Plain and simple logic it makes sense in a
short period of time one fines large numbers of ladybugs gathered in large numbers
in the high county where I believe they hibernate and from there in a short
period of time they are all gone from that very same spot. Which leads to believe they do use the air
currents perhaps jet streams the outer currents to get around? I am sure some would believe that the photos
were photo shopped or manipulated I believe man walked on the moon. If you can prove other wise or have a better
theory I am listening?
larry_gene
9 years ago
There are various lower-atmosphere air currents, some quite strong and in the vicinity of mountains, that could overpower insect flight and deposit them at some random distance, perhaps a very few tens of miles. Navigation would be very imprecise, but the ladybugs would not be particular.
PRO
John Pavon
4 years ago
The photo of this Ladybug was taken at a distance near or close to the same attitude, jet streams are at different speeds, no mention to the actual speed not givien only height approx. elevation.

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