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Ladybugs

Ladybugs

$25.00 USD
$25.00 USD
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The Convergent Lady Beetle (Hippodamia convergens) is the original broad-spectrum predator of the North American garden. While specialized predatory mites work like scalpels on specific problems, ladybugs are your cleanup crew — generalist hunters that will work through aphid colonies, soft scale, and anything else soft-bodied and slow enough to catch.

We carry Hippodamia convergens specifically because it's the species that belongs here. It evolved alongside the pest pressure you're dealing with, handles the climate, and doesn't create the secondary problems that come with releasing non-native species into your garden or greenhouse.

Not sure where to get ladybugs that actually work? We've been doing this for 20 years. Smaller orders ship in kraft paper tubes — ladybugs are gregarious and settle better clustered together. Bulk ladybugs available for larger grows. Same-week dispatch, Monday through Thursday.

Best For: Fast knock-down of heavy aphid and soft-bodied pest populations.
Speed: They start hunting as soon as they warm up.
The FGMN Standard: Healthy, active, and triple-screened for vigor.

Field Notes

Hippodamia convergens

The beneficial

Species
Hippodamia convergens
Common name
Convergent lady beetle
Type
Predatory beetle — generalist
How it works
Released low on the plant, adults crawl upward and scan every leaf on the way to the top, working through aphid colonies, soft scale and anything else soft-bodied and slow enough to catch
What does the killing
The next generation as much as the beetles you release. Adults that find enough food lay eggs, and the spiked larvae that follow hunt harder than the adults — those larvae are what clears a heavy infestation

What it eats

Hunts
Aphids above all, plus the young mobile stages of mealybugs and soft scale
Best against
Large, visible colonies of aphids and other soft-bodied pests
Also eats
Eggs of moths and other garden invaders
Eats opportunistically
Thrips larvae and spider mites. Not a specialist here — an extra layer of defense, not the answer
Won't touch
Microscopic, hidden pests in the tight crevices of new growth — broad mites and the like need a predatory mite instead

What arrives

Format
Kraft paper tube of clustered beetles, cool and mostly motionless. They look dead; they are dormant, and wake as they warm
Ships as
Adults

Where it works

Optimal temp
Indoors and in greenhouses, 64°F to 81°F
Humidity
50% RH or higher
Light
Positively phototactic — they fly toward the strongest light source. Indoors, manage lamps and windows or they gather there rather than in the canopy
Establishes
Dispersal is hardwired in adults: some leave. Those that find dense prey and water stay and lay, and the eggs are the real payoff

Running it

Deploy
Mist or water the plants before release. Beetles look for water before food, and a thirsty beetle leaves to find a drink
Placement
Onto the lower stems or the soil at the base of infested plants, never on top. They climb toward the aphids
Release timing
At dusk, or 15 minutes after lights-out. Never in daylight. Release in batches over several nights rather than all in one evening
Refrigerate
Yes — refrigerate, never freeze, if you cannot release tonight. The cold holds them in diapause for about a week; longer than that can kill them
Compatible with
Predatory mites, if staggered: ladybugs first to knock down a heavy infestation, then the specialised mites 5–7 days later
Keep separate from
A simultaneous predatory mite release — a generalist ladybug will occasionally eat a predatory mite it crosses. Indoors, bright lights and open windows on release night
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