What redhead is a gardener's friend?

By Chelsie Vandaveer

February 5, 2003

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The redheaded ladybug (Cryptolaemus montrouzieri Mulsant) is a native of Australia. The adult is only 3 to 4 millimeters, but the larval stage can be as big as 1.3 centimeters. During its lifetime this redhead eats voraciously. The ladybug was introduced to Alameda, California in 1891 by Albert Koebele to control citrus mealybugs.

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Redheaded ladybugs lay up to 400 yellow eggs in the cottony egg masses of mealybugs (Family Pseudococcidae). The eggs hatch in five to six days and begin feeding on the mealybug eggs. Over the next 17 days, these larvae will eat around 250 mealybugs if they find that many. Otherwise, the larvae turn to eating aphids, soft scales, and honeydew left on foliage by sucking insects.

The larvae pupate for seven to ten days, emerging as dark brown ladybugs with tan to orange heads. The adult stage lives for fifty to sixty days and feeds on mealybugs also.

The larval stages of the redheaded ladybug are the most interesting and quite shocking when first seen. These predators produce waxy filaments over their bodies. The filament-covered ladybug larvae mimic the appearance of mealybugs.

Cornell University College of Agriculture and Life Sciences has posted a great photograph of a larva of the redheaded ladybug. To view the photograph, click on the link:

http://www.nysaes.cornell.edu/ent/biocontrol/predators/cryptolaemus_m.html

The Horticulture Department of Texas A&M University has posted a photograph of citrus mealybugs, one of the many species of mealybugs consumed by redheaded ladybug. To view the photograph, click on the link:

http://aggie-horticulture.tamu.edu/citrus/mealybug.htm

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