Lol was that a pun in the last sentence?? Fascinating pictures though!

Cool pictures indeed, saving you the work!

They're better than all the rest!

What?? This is the first post you've started?! I'm surprised, but it's a good topic. I thought they only ate aphids. I just released a batch with my grandkids...fun.

Kara, how truly awesome they are! Mine have arrived and still in the refrigerator. We're waiting for warmer nights.

Read somewhere that ladybugs coming out of hibernation would fly off to new pastures right away, questioning the effectiveness of buying/releasing them in your yard. Any feedback on this would be appreciated as I have been tempted to buy some but have not yet. Thanks!

Could be true, Alain, but some might hang around if "food" is available. It's worth doing even if they are preying on your neighbor's insects, because those non-beneficials will eventually visit your garden.

I did a little reading on Ladybugs. They mate sexually;). They can mate for up to two hours. Poor girl;). I think it was Gill that said aphids are born pregnant. What kind of craziness is that?! I read somewhere certain scales don't need males either. If the food is not abundant the female can keep the male's sperm in her for 2-3 months. If food is abundant they can lay their eggs almost immediately:). I do think most will eat and fly away. The more food you have the more will stay.

Pagan- Did you get that box at Costco;)? Where did you get that and how many are in there?

I just went outside to check on them. It's been about 19 hours since I first released them. Some have stayed:).

I don't think you have to be a rocket scientist to know what's going on in these 2 pics. They're different areas not the same Ladybugs:).Hopefully the ladies won't fly off and drop their eggs somewhere else.

Last one. My guard cat keeping away the birds:).

Great first post Kara! I wish ladybugs would eat fire ants. They are so terrible here.

Kara: There are 9000 of them in that box. One bag of 4500 will be released next week and the other bag is a present for my 3-year old niece. Got them from Arbico Organics. I get my nematodes from them too.

Yuck fire ants! I don't think we have them much around here. They're more around your neck of the woods;). I watch this man on YouTube and he works with animals. Sometimes he does crazy stuff. Like stick his hand in a fire ant mound! He said it was one of the most painful things he has ever experienced. Months later he still had scars on his hands from the fire ants. Since it's Earth Day I will put his YouTube channel below:).

Brave Wilderness

Pagan- that will be any amazing site. You should definitely take pictures:)!

Ok last Ladybug post I swear. This is incredible:)...

At my mom's old house, there would be a yearly ladybug invasion in my brother's room. We never figured out how they were getting into the house...I was in college at the time, so he just ended up sleeping in my room for a couple months out of the year.

It's been about 40 hours since I released the Ladybugs and I did a quick little scan. I could see 9:). Those are the ones I could see, didn't inspect real hard. So with the ones I can't see I'm gonna guess there's probably double that. Those ladies better be layin their eggs!

Krista- I've heard of people's homes getting infested by Ladybugs. I wonder why they do that? They must have felt safe or something. At least with those numbers they aren't around forever. Plus they aren't destructive just with that many they can be a nuisance, and probably a little creepy. I like them, but when there's millions I would probably get the heebie jeebies;).

I think my brother's main complaint is that they would fall on him when he was sleeping!

Asian ladybugs overwinter in houses, in swarms sometimes. They also bite, though you feel no more than a pinch, but they excrete a stinking, orange staining liquid when threatened. Populations go up and down. Not the nicest ones. We have had some bad years in the past.

I've had a ladybug bite me. Wasn't much of a bite.

I used to do a hands-on science activity with first graders, each student having their own LB to draw and observe. Then they released them. It was fun (lotsa work for me too), and the kids loved it. We looked at their legs through the video microscope; they have hairy legs.

Luckily I think it's warm enough here for them to overwinter outside. I would not want them in my house. I mean they're cute in little doses, but they are still crunchy little beetles;).They live for a year. I think that's a long time for a little bug!

Socks- What a fun little project! First graders are the best. Still cute like kindergarteners, but not as babyish. They've be on the playground for a year so they've toughened up a little, but still have a sweetness about them. I use to work at a day care for elementary kids, and first graders were my fav;).

Krista- I don't blame your bro getting freaked out by falling Ladybugs while he was sleeping. That is definitely not something I would want;).