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Plants to Attract Lady Bugs


Most ladybugs are beneficial predatory insects that we want in our gardens. Encourage adults that are red or orange with black markings, and the small, black alligator-like larvae with red markings. They eat aphids, mites, small insects, and insect eggs. They also like pollen and nectar. Invite them to stay by planting dill, fennel, dandelion, wild carrot, yarrow, tansy, Angelica, and cosmos 'Sensation' series. 

In addition to attractive plants, there are a few other things you can do to encourage ladybugs to stay around. The last thing you want is to release a new batch of ladybugs and have them all disappear! Here are a few tips to make sure they like your yard:


Timing: Ladybugs are active during the day, so releasing them closer to dawn or dusk will mean they are less likely to immediately start wandering.

Location: Release your ladybugs onto or near a plant that has a food source - either a heavy pollen producer like those listed above, or one with a heavy pest population. 

Temperature: Refrigerating your ladybugs prior to releasing them will slow them down and keep them around longer than ladybugs who are warmed up and active.

Water: Make sure there is water or dew on the plant you release the ladybugs on or near. 


If you ensure that all these factors are present, you are much more likely to have a ladybug population that stays in your yard and gets to work!