Kitchen Garden Forum

Just found trillions (well, quite a few)..of these little critters, all over the place in the garden this morning. Harlequin ladybird larvae (I think). They're doing a good job. Didn't see many greenfly in their vicinity. Either they've eaten them all or the gf have scarpered.[attachment=0]P1040487_0366_edited-1.jpg[/attachment]

Update - I've just found out that they are, indeed, not really the good guys that I thought they were.

Sad to say Harlequin Ladybirds are like grey squirrels, killing off our indigenous specie. NOT So Good Guys.

I've seen a few ladybird larvae this week, one walking across the coffee table and one on the garage door, so they're not making much impression on the greenfly. It's good to see them about though, means there must be some adults even though I've not seen any.

Thank you Pa...I've done some research and discovered that the little critters aren't very good at all in that they threaten our native ladybirds. I stand corrected...and have learnt something today.

Diane. Had a freight of them on my allotment last year.

Well, this is a dilemma, isn,t it?
What's the greater priority?
Saving the native ladybirds in your garden or letting the Harlequin creatures live so that your climbing beans or other vegs which you have spent time and effort nurturing don't get attacked and eaten by aphids?
Sometimes being a conscientious gardenener confronts you with some difficult moral issues!

Killing the aliens is my stance when found, seems cruel, but man messed it up so nature sometimes needs a hand.

You shouldn't kill any unless you are absolutely sure they harlequins because there are such a lot of varieties of native ladybirds that it would be easy to wrongly identify and kill one of those. In any case if you only see harlequins you might as well let them get on with eating the aphids.