You can’t have a bad day in polka dots. – Anna Kendrick, American actress (1985-)
This little love bug is here, bringing you lots of love and cheer. – Anonymous
Awh the ladybugs are back. They’ve been back for a month or more. Annually I write about the joy of having ladybugs as temporary pets. I’ve enjoyed so many pets over the years while also the heartbreak of losing them. Today I have one cat, 8 years old, named Wilhelmina. She’s the survivor. My heart and my lessening energies hold me back from taking in more pets and more losses. Living in the Prairie provides lots of wild critters that become more or less pets for a season. Maybe you can’t hold them but you can provide for them. There is an abundance of joy watching these wild critters that belong to no one.
The ladybugs, actually beetles, and known as ladybirds in the United Kingdom arrive at the house when the cool air arrives. Over the last few weeks, I’ve collected over 100 ladybugs as they creep into the upstairs bedroom facing west. The west room gets most of the sunlight and the ladybugs enjoy the warmth of the sun.
In that room I have a bug box to keep them in until I move them to the greenhouse to do their ladybug jobs. In the greenhouse the ladybugs will feast on aphids they find. It is possible for one ladybug to consume 50 aphids a day. While they are in the bug box I half grapes and blueberries and poke tiny holes in the fruits with a toothpick to attract the ladybugs sweet tooth and nourish them. They are released from the bug box in the greenhouse. Once released the box is returned to the west bedroom to capture more ladybugs.
Besides having a ladybug hobby and treating them as pets, I appreciate the idea that ladybugs may live two to three years. By assisting them possibly I’m saving a generation, at least a generation here in the Prairie.
Not all ladybugs are just alike and they aren’t all ladies, of course we have male ladybugs as well. There are 475 species of ladybugs in North America. They come in different colors and patterns. Some ladybugs are red; while others are black, yellow, pink, and come with various markers like dots or maybe no dots at all. All ladybugs have wings.
A healthy ladybug clings high up the wall or on a curtain in the room. I use a stepladder to capture one. If I miss, the ladybug will take a freefall. It took me a while to figure out the little critter is smart. While I looked directly below the fall the ladybug will spread her wings and fly off horizontally. She outsmarted me until I caught on to her flight pattern.
Children would love ladybugs as pets if you locate some ladybugs. You can also fashion a bug box by taking a plastic container with or without a top. Make holes in the top for air; if no top, cover with a thin porous cloth, add a stem of foliage, mist water occasionally, drop in some fruit. Release the ladybugs in the spring.
Shannon Bardwell is a writer living quietly in the Prairie. Email reaches her at [email protected].
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