How to Care for a Ladybug

This is my first instructable so don't be hard on me. I'm going to tell you how to care for a ladybug. (It worked for me and my pet ladybug)

Step 1: Finding a Place

First your going to need to find a home for your ladybug.
Here's some ideas:

1-Ladybug Playground(you can buy it at the store)

2-A jar with holes in the top(I suggest a jelly jar)

3-Your own idea of a home

Step 2: Finding Food

What I did for food was a gumdrop, but you can buy a 4 oz . jar of proper food for 11.99(sorry I don't have a picture). Just make sure that if you give it candy, it can't be hard candy.

Step 3: Have Fun!

I hope you liked my instructable and please comment!

Comments

[Orcalover360]

Hai, you sound like a great person who can help me.

It's the beginning of January, and starting to get pretty cold, when a sick ladybug found it's way into my parent's bathroom. I'm not sure how old it is, but it can't fly. I've given it a little honey, a few drops of water (which it happily drank), and some sugar.

I think everything I've been doing so far is good enough, but I just want to keep it alive for the winter (or however long the rest of it's lifespan is).

Am I doing everything right--or should I fix something?

[nomarralancaster]

Hi
You can try to use raisins instead of sugar and instead of giving it water put a damp paper towel in it( it could last for 1 week)

[tessier.v]

sounds fun but I don,t know we're you live.

[savannah lee]

you mean gundrops for ladybugs that was funny

[tessier.v]

It was inspiring and worth wanting to do.

[HLightning11]

so I should make a little bowl of duck tape and put sugar in?

[savannah lee]

nope

[savannah lee]

wow

[webmuskie]

Soaking raisins in water and chopping them up is the usual recommended ladybug food. It gives them trace nutrients, not just glucose. Ladybugs are omnivorous and will eat nearly anything if hungry enough.

Ladybugs, depending on how old they already are, should live longer than a few months. The native species have a life expectancy in the wild of about a year. The Asian ladybeetle, which is the one most commonly found in houses in the fall, has a life expectancy of 2-3 years in the wild.

Right now I've got 11 Asian Ladybeetles on my desk in a plastic container, munching together on a stack of chopped raisin. I know some people strongly dislike "invasive species" -- as if *we're* not an invasive species ourselves (except for those who live in the horn of Africa). The reality is that successful species have always "invaded" new territories. Some successful species, when expanding their range, are highly disruptive and deserve our every effort to control their expansion, Others are relatively benign. The Asian ladybeetle presents a "threat" largely to our housekeeping: otherwise it eats aphids with as much gusto as the natives, and deserves my help overwintering here in VT (it's too late for me to throw these guys back outside where they ought to be overwintering).

Since ladybug pheromones will attract other ladybugs, once you catch a few ladybugs in your house and give them winter housing, the rest will try to come to you, especially if you keep their winter home (in my case, a plastic tub with a lot of holes punched in it) directly under a light. One guy I caught yesterday was running in circles around the lid of the tub, trying to figure out how the rest of his species managed to get in there. I helped him find out exactly how, of course.

Come spring, my winter houseguests will be put to work in the community gardens around my high rise, where I expect they will repay their debt to me.

(I have a "Monk Parakeet" (Quaker Parrot) to my left, munching on birdie kibble, too, not that I set out in life to shelter benign "invasives".)

[TiffanyB34]

Hi, I responded on this thread and you sound like someone who can possibly help or guide me along. I just want to keep my ladybugs alive throughout the winter, any advice you have would be greatly appreciated! [e-mail]

[TiffanyB34]

I know this thread is a few years old now, but I'm hoping one of you with experience can guide me along. This is the fourth year living in my house and every year I see clumps/heards/masses of ladybugs in high corners of my house, and have always just let them go, but then just to find the majority of them dead on the floor. this year I decided to capturer them and do research to keep these babies alive throughout the winter. I think I'm doing well so far, I soak raisons ams dried cranberries, with drops of honey, on top of a wet paper towel.... I'm peeling bark off of trees, and gathering whatever leaves I can find at this time of year. I have 19 to date and want to keep them alive throughout the winter, but I get nervous that might not happen. I believe i even found just one egg, but i have a bad feeling it might not hatch. I see quite a few of then mating as well.
Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated. Email me with ladybug subject at [e-mail].

[PieAll]

I heard honey or unprocessed raw sugar/brown sugar (I assume they just said 'Sugar') is supposed to be good to. They also apparently need a little bit of water to.

[krujh2]

Yes, they will eat candy. The gumdrop is soft and the reason they eat aphids is because of the fact that the aphids drink glucose from plants so they do get all the nutrients they need. My ladybug lived for about two months. I geuss that's a reasonable life.

[jordan1]

well actually, no it doesn't have all the nutrients it needs. I understand that aphids have a lot of sugar in them, but that's plant sugars. Gumdrops have artificial sweeteners and high fructose corn syrup. Also, many people who keep ladybugs professionally (and yes there are professional lady bug breeders) have kept them for 2-3 years

[stick0]

they need protien to reproduce. even the NATIVE :) spotted pink lady bug gets half its food from polen but still needs aphids or other protien

[charchar2]

that is cool! are you sure the ladybugs will eat candy though? i thought they only ate aphids. even if your ladybug ate a gumdrop that doesn't mean that it got enough nutrients to live very long. how long did it live? i know im being a little hard on you, but other than that, it is a great instructable! please try to answer my questions, because if it is true, i will never again have trouble keeping ladybugs! Yayyyyyyyyyyyyy!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[noobie605]

yay! im first but ummm yeah i like the vid. i have used a lady bug lantern that i made(search ladybug lantern for the instructable) and i used a gumdrop and it works GREAT.

[noobie605]

not vid lol i mean instructable. sorry