Ladybugs Eat Pests
A single ladybug can eat up to 50 aphids in one day! Aphids are tiny bugs that suck the juice out of garden plants and can kill a rose bush or a tomato plant if there are too many of them. Ladybugs are little helpers that farmers and gardeners love to see.
What You'll Learn
- What ladybugs eat and why it helps plants - What the word predator means - How ladybugs find their food - Why farmers welcome ladybugs into their fields
A Ladybug Is a Predator
A predator is an animal that hunts and eats other animals. Ladybugs are predators of aphids, mites, and other soft, tiny bugs. A ladybug uses its strong little jaws to bite and chew its prey.
Both the Baby and the Grown-Up Eat Pests
Baby ladybugs, called larvae, look like tiny black and orange alligators, not like the round red beetle you know. Even in this stage, before they grow their shell and wings, larvae are hungry hunters and eat just as many aphids as the adults do.
A ladybug's bright red and black spots warn birds: I taste bad! Many birds learn to leave ladybugs alone after one bad-tasting bite.
Farmers Protect Ladybugs on Purpose
Because ladybugs eat so many plant-destroying pests, some farmers buy boxes of ladybugs and release them into their fields instead of spraying chemicals. This is called natural pest control, and it keeps plants healthy without harsh sprays.
Flashcards — click each card to reveal the answer
About how many aphids can one ladybug eat in a single day?
Why do some farmers release ladybugs into their fields on purpose?
Build a Ladybug Habitat Drawing
Draw a garden that would make a ladybug want to stay: include a plant with aphids on it, a flower for shelter, and a sunny rock. Label each part and write one sentence explaining why a ladybug would like it there.
Check the underside of leaves in a garden or park. That is where ladybugs often hunt for aphids hiding out of the wind.
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