Here it is folks – the aphid armagedonator. Commonly known as the ladybug or ladybird, the Coccinellidae is a top class predator of garden pest insects. Pretty much anything that wants to suck the life your of your plants is fair game, as is the case in these images (bulk of aphids are on the right).

Our friend the ladybug is making a meal of aphids on my Gala Apple tree. Soon the fruit will set and another Summer harvest will be assured, so delightful to pick a home grown apple warmed by the sun.

So you see the problem with spraying the life out of anything that moves? You kill the aphids, sure that is great, you also kill their predators (ladybugs, spiders, parasitic wasps, lacewings and hoverflies). The predators and their larvae die, their lifecycle is disrupted, the aphids will return due to their strength of numbers, and what is left to eat them then? More pesticides become a poor substitute for natural controls, ignoring a few hundred million years of Nature’s R&D for a few centuries or ours.

You don’t need to use commercial pesticides in your garden, just provide a nice home for natures little helpers.

Looks like meat is back on the menu ladies

Stay put, I’ll get to you lot shortly

Related articles

• Following A Ladybug Through Her Life Cycle (backyardgardeningtips.com)
• How To Grow Organic Apples Without Any Kind of Spray or Pesticide (realfarmacy.com)
• Bugs, organic style: Creepy crawlers, stingers, do good at the farm (wsunews.wsu.edu)