Which Bug Eats the Bugs?

The Ladybug Eats The Aphids!

We can’t ask the last one in the chain... now, can we?
The ladybug eats the aphids, but who eats the ladybug?

Some birds, frogs, wasps, spiders, dragonflies. It’s a pretty good list and that’s not all of it.

As small insects go, usually they don’t have much of a lifetime to worry about predators or anything else.

But as predators go, she doesn’t have many enemies.

Which Bug Eats The Bugs?

How did Ms Ladybug become so lucky?
She smells baaad… has a shell as hard as a toenail and she tastes awful. 

Lucky her!.. For putting up with that horrible bio, she adds several more months to her two to four-year lifespan!

Only a young bird will attack a ladybug for consumption.
He’s a fool but he learns his lesson quickly.

Never ever, eat a ladybug… He won’t do that again…
Pfahi.. blahhh – she tastes bad!

Ms Ladybug will be consumed by someone else.
Which bug eats the bugs? Let’s just see…

Is There A Beautiful Aphid? 

Is there a one-sided theme going on here?
Do we favor the birds? Birds are beautiful! 

Have you seen a closeup of an aphid?
Ug-ly!

Does the aphid care? It’s his job to survive and reproduce. He needs to be fat and juicy to nourish his lucky food chain up-line.

What do the aphids eat? They suck the plant’s sap, and from this, they get sugars, minerals, and other elements. They’re vegetarian!

Doing this allows the aphid to provide nourishment to the ladybug, and the hummingbird.
An aphid is a plant louse, and there are about 4,000 different species.

As gardeners, we get a variety of aphids! Who knew that so many species existed for the sole purpose of feeding other critters?

If you ever want to know if you have aphids, check your roses first.
That’s usually where they start.

And if they are allowed to thrive unchecked, they will spread everywhere! 

Bring On The Ladybugs!

They are eating machines and eat up to 1,000 aphids a day. Each!

You can buy ladybugs by the box from some nurseries. Then sprinkle them onto the aphid-infested plants and watch them do their job.

They eat up to two times their body weight in one day.

You would think with all that food that they would be too cumbersome to fly.

All that food should keep them weighted down and heavy and in your garden.
Am I right?

How Do I Keep Them On The Farm?

Make sure your garden is alluring before you buy the little wandering critters. They are fickle.

Within one day, 90% of them will fly away to a garden that has more flowers than yours, is prettier than yours, and bigger than yours!

If your neighbor’s garden is more fragrant than yours, ladybugs will be tempted away within the hour.

Do you remember when, as a child, you let a ladybug crawl up your hand and onto your finger and she walked all the way to the tip?… and she flew away.

That should have been an indication right there… they are not home-bodies!

Oh Wait, This Is Funny!

Just for fun, this year I planted nasturtium seeds in a lovely, empty pot. They are easy to grow and edible, and they look good in the salad.

After all my careful planting and watering I learned that nasturtiums attract aphids… oh yes, that was funny.

Once they have flowered, put the nasturtiums near other plants to protect them from the aphids. Legend has it, the nasturtium LURES the aphids to them.

Now I have to control the nasturtiums, to make sure they don’t spread the aphids to other plants. Nowhere on the package does it say “may attract aphids”!

I did not do my research before I planted the seeds. (Do your research) 

If a plant has aphids I don’t want it next to other plants… this does not work for me.
Those aphid-ridden nasturtiums had to go. 

So What Happens Now?

He’s ugly, he’s a pest, so why do we need him?… ask the ladybug.
Ask the hummingbird.

They are up the food chain and that’s too bad for the aphid.
About 90% of insects we see in the garden, are not harmful but don’t relax about this. 

Remember that aphids suck the sugar and elements from the plants.

In very warm countries they are considered to be the plague… If there are enough of them, they can destroy whole crops in a few days.

Just doing their job… but because nature is so structured, they are good for the food chain.

What Do Hummers Devour?

Hummingbirds eat aphids too – ok, I’m sorry about that... nothing personal, it’s just a fact.

But, here’s the good news: they eat spiders and 60% to 80% of their diet is spiders! 

Ever seen the hummingbird flitting around your eaves and looking into corners on the porch?

I always thought they were curious and wanted to see inside the house.

Or they were confused by their own reflection in the window.
What did I know?

They are looking for webs, so they can eat the spiders. They are doing every woman a great service because most of us are scared of spiders!

And How Do They Do This?

Mamma is so smart that she builds her nest in the webbed area.
That way when the babies are born, she is near the food source.

This is their suburbia!.. Their meals on wheels. 

She is the only one who builds the nest and tends the babies. She has two eggs and sits on them for three weeks … I could never sit in the same place for three weeks!

Daddy doesn’t have anything to do with the kids and they better know how to fly in 21 days! Right on time, Dad will leave the homestead and the family.

I wonder why the country music people haven’t jumped all over this.

Hummingbirds and ladybugs maintain a truce. They work at opposite ends of the garden. The ladybug’s terrible smell makes it a friendly and long-distance relationship.

The Emelia Earhart Of Aviation!

Hummingbirds have acute vision and catch their insects in flight! They are one of the aviation wonders of nature!

They can hover and fly forward and backward, at 30 mph!.. They can fly upside-down! The insects don’t have a chance with the hummingbird.

(Read “What are Pollinators?” for fun facts about the hummingbird!).

They have their limitations though. They are unable to open their beaks wide.
Know why? Because it would harm the petals of the flowers when they are sucking nectar.
So, did nature think of everything … or what?

Nature Thought Of Everything! 

Like a vacuum, they suck out the nourishment, and if there is a tiny bug in the flower, they can suck him up too!.. It’s a freebie add-on to the meal. 

But it doesn’t happen often and she couldn’t live on those extras.
She has a high metabolism and eats every 15 minutes.

How Much Fun Is He Really?

They do their job to rid your garden of spiders and mosquitos and you have the fun of watching them.

They will hover before your eyes! Their wings beat 70 times per second… 
do you hear that “whoosh” sound?

Sit still… and he might fly upside-down just for you. They give you joy just by being there, and they can recognize you.

Go ahead; give him a name.

The Dragonfly With The Girl Tatoo!

They look so elegant, just like a tall lady in a long dress.

They have transparent wings and long slim bodies. It is not as if they don’t eat, they consume their own body weight every day.

They are active and quick – they flit around and fly off the weight.
The ladybug can eat twice as much, and she doesn’t get fat.
At least the dragonfly doesn’t smell bad. 

Dragonflies eat mosquitos, midges, bees, flies, and other dragonflies, and that might narrow down their friendship pool.

But here is the dragonfly’s real triumph of nature: they are a barometer for clean air.
If they are in your garden then the air is devoid of pollution! 

You won’t see them in inner cities and urban areas… they cannot live there because the air is too polluted.

So while they are colourful and nice to watch, they keep your garden clean and you know your air is clean just by having them… This is a win-win.

There’s A Frog In My Garden!

Ok. He’s green, but pink and red were taken!

Some red frogs are poisonous. Click to identify them: https://toadsnfrogs.com/author/daniella-master-herpetologist/

Kermit does a lot of good things and will croak at night in spring to attract a female.

I know he’s loud; he might even be a bullfrog.
But this is expected in the country; that’s why we moved here!

Once the frogs have found each other they don’t have a long courtship, but it is kind of romantic.

The male wraps his arms around the female.
She drops her eggs and he fertilizes them… That’s it!

The eggs are in the place they will stay for 16 weeks until they become froglets.
They mastered the art of passive parenting to perfection! 

Only Fresh Food For Him!

They like their meals fresh… as in live!
As long as Kermit has crickets, worms, cockroaches, caterpillars, spiders, grasshoppers, and slugs, they will be happy.

The female frog can flit out her tongue and catch a bug in 1/10th of a second!
We couldn’t even see that and the meal would be over by the time we caught on!

And they can absorb moisture and breathe through their skin…
They also have lungs!

A word of caution: if the frog is brightly colored, blue, red, or yellow, they are probably poisonous. 

Stay away from them; stick to the green ones and you’ll be safe.

Wash your hands after being in the garden... No, you don’t get warts from frogs.

If you have a garden that has attracted a frog or two, you can congratulate yourself.
You have a balanced ecosystem, or the frogs wouldn’t be there!

What’s The Verdict?

If we did not have frogs, hummingbirds, ladybugs, and dragonflies, in our garden, we would have an explosion of harmful insects!

We would not be able to keep our ecosystem strong on our own.

Nature provides recognized pollinators with the food they need to do the job assigned to them. (See “What Are Pollinators” for a fun time with insects!)

Without this food chain, which nature has provided, we would hardly have food to eat.
Pollinators, especially bees, provide up to 90% of our food and people are not good pollinators!

Most of that talent falls on bees and our world needs them. Please do not spray insecticides or any other “ides”. Turn to a natural organic solution and save our bees!

Everything is put here for a reason, and, naturally, bugs rid our gardens of 80% of unwanted insects! Nature is all about harmony!.. Listen to nature!

Just for the record, have you ever heard of the nasturtium story?
It always helps to read the instructions first – I did not do my research.

I use organic insecticidal soap; it will kill aphids and other insects and can be safely used on fruits and vegetables. It safely controls scale and fungus.

But, it won’t kill the bees, hummingbirds, and butterflies.

I am sure that you have similar stories about the things you have learned about nature.
Please share them – I would love to hear about your experiences in the garden.

Leave a comment below, and I will get back to you within 24 hours!

Regards, Corinne :-)))