Ladybugs

[Hal]

Love those predatory wasps. If you want to encourage them be sure to have some plants with small flowers so they can gather nectar and pollen in their adult stage. A few carrots left to go to seed are great for that, The tiny wasps love them. They also like cilantro flowers and dandelion.
Predatory wasps are the best control I have for those gray colored aphids that can infest anything in the mustard or cabbage family. I'm always sure to let at least one cauliflower or broccoli go to flower for them. That also gives me some of that seed for next Fall.

Yellowjackets also eat cabbage worms. High protein for the young'uns. Digger wasps eat army and cutworms. They all have a place in our gardens.

Good to see someone who can appreciate the beneficial creatures

 

[Nyboy]

None of the nurseries here sell ladybugs, going to have to buy online

 

[Carol Dee]

Just a caution. Don't pick up those big Asian lady bugs. They bite.

I have been told they do not bite. Well, Whatever it is, it hurts. Nasty little buggers.

 

[Smart Red]

We once had an official from the Dept of Ag. tell us that Asian lady-bird beetles DO NOT BITE. No, they don't bite like spiders, scorpions, or mosquitoes. What they do, however, is land and taste. If you are an aphid that tastes good they start eating. If you are not tasty the beetle will wander around on your arm, leg, or whatever until it decides to fly again with no more pinching, biting, or nibbling.

Of course, by the first "land and pinch" you have knocked the beetle off so it can land and pinch again.

 

[hoodat]

None of the nurseries here sell ladybugs, going to have to buy online

I've never had to buy ladybugs. When the conditions are right they come on their own. If you buy ladybugs many of them will fly off. Except for Winter hibernation there are almost never large numbers of them in the same place. You can only hope they stay long enough to lay eggs. It is the ladybug larvae that do the real cleanup.