Well, finally gave up trying to soap and water spray the aphids. They were winning and I was getting concerned about possibly killing caterpillars. So we just released 900 ladybugs. If you are interested, I will report back the results. Karen
Ladybug Experiment
I am....did they stay on the plants with the aphids?
please do, let us know how it goes
We put some on the milkweed (covered with aphids), some on plumeria, some on bay leaf, and some on citrus (mineola orange and key lime). I had also purchased a really cute ladybug house so put some in there. Read online that if you spritz them with soda pop and water (50-50), they wouldn't be able to fly far for a few days. That would encourage them to lay eggs here and the offspring would stay. We'll see. Will report back. Karen
I had clusters of aphids on my milkweed this year, the first time I have ever noticed aphids but also the first year for me and milkweed.
Then one day they disappeared--really, I could hardly find any but then I found lacewing larvae on my milkweed:
http://ipm.ncsu.edu/cotton/insectcorner/photos/images/Green_lace_larva.jpg They were incredibly effective.
It was a blessing and a curse because I'm sure they also ate the caterpillars. I'd like to try ladybugs next year so I'd also be interested in your results too.
Maureen
Oh No, I also ordered green lacewing larvae. I certainly don't want them eating my cats and I just checked on google and they DO eat butterfly eggs. I am going to have to release them far away from my house. Thanks for the warning!!!!
NP, I accidentally got one in my cat cage and saw it nipping at one of the very large cats. I am running out of room for cats in my cages because I am trying to save them from the lacewing larvae. They are voracious!
I will say they wiped out the aphids is very short order though. Now if they ate mosquitoes and not caterpillars, they'd be just right!
good luck,
Maureen
BTW, where are you ordering from?
Well, just went out and found zero ladybugs. It is 90 degrees here, so I am hoping that they are just hiding to keep cool. Or they are gone....will look again tonight.