[janiejakemum]

At the moment i am spraying my veggie garden every other day with a mild soapy solution to get rid of green/black fly but thought maybe if i could find some ladybirds they'd give me a helping hand.

Where do ladybirds tend to hang around??

Thanks for any help

[Trebor]

I found loads of larvae in some leaves that I had left to rot down. I believe you can also buy them.

[pevitt]

You can buy them, either as larvae or grown bugs.

[barney rubble]

any idea where you buy them from folks? Thanks

[Bozwell]

Trebor, you wouldn't have a photo of the lady bird larvea would you please, or if any one else has photos. I tend to squish first and ask questions later.
If I knew what they looked like it will help their population grow.

[BobandJack]

Barney Rubble you can get ladybirds from here 

http://www.greengardener.co.uk/

[Faz]

Here you go Boswell, this is a lady bird larvae. the larvae eat more aphids than the adults and obviously don't fly off, so if you have these on your plants they will do a good job.




Dont forget the hover fly larvae are also very beneficial, they look like little grubs and my first reaction, before I knew what they were, was that they were to be squished!

[barney rubble]

Thanks Sian 420 - also great picis Faz - we definitely could do with a wildlife section on here to identify the good and bad guys - I have put a request in

[pevitt]

I got mine from www.gardening-naturally.com.

[Sue33]

oh no, I squished a couple of them ladybird larvae the other night at the lotties as I thought they were baddies 

[sclarke624]

Its incredible that the larvae monster turns into a ladybird.  I never knew they looked like that fascinating.

[themoog]

I'm wondering where all the ladybirds are this year. Loads of greenfly and not one ladybird seen in the garden or allotment. They're usually about by this time.

Might need to make some of those little homes for next year.

[Faz]

I seem to have lots of little spiders on my trees that look like they are eating the greenfly, though possibly they are just living amongst the remains where ladybirds or some other bug has been munching.

I have only seen a couple of ladybirds so far, so I think I'll join you and make them some little houses at some point over the summer, so they have somewhere to hibernate.

[Bozwell]

Faz them photo's were perfect.  am sure i have seen them down the lottie and squished a couple how guilty do I feel. 
At least I know in future what to look for in future. I have put them pic's up in my lottie shed.