Oaktree Home and Garden

The humble ladybird (Coccinellidae family) has delighted children over the centuries. It is often the first insect to be discovered by intrepid toddlers as they make their first stumbling steps in the family garden, unaware of the brightly coloured, spotted creature’s potential benefits to the garden they are exploring.

Britain lays claim to 46 varieties of ladybird, the 7 spotted and 2 spotted being the most common visitors. Few insects have such a beneficial effect on their environment. The ‘gardener’s friend’ can devour between 1000 and 5000 aphids during its lifetime; that is just a single ladybird, imagine the powers of a colony within your garden. This versatile beetle devours not only damaging aphids (greenfly and blackfly), but also white fly, red spider mites, mealy bugs and other scaly insects.

The vivid red of the ladybird is a warning to its predators and when in danger it secretes a yellow bitter toxic fluid to deter.

Cold winters find ladybirds hibernating under logs, or in dense vegetation although in warmer winters they may not hibernate at all but just seek a safe sheltered spot. It is not uncommon to find hundreds of ladybirds hibernating together throughout the winter.

The Ladybird Tower for sale at Oaktree Home and Garden offers a natural shelter and habitat for ladybirds. Made from an (FSC) silver birch log with small holes drilled for the ladybirds to enter through, the centre of the log is filled with ‘food’ to attract them to the tower. Inside, the tower provides warmth and shelter from the elements. The roof panel can be removed for cleaning or for little eyes to peep in and see what is happening!

Folklore:

The ladybird is said to take its name from the common images of the Virgin Mary in a scarlet cape which formed the centre piece of many medieval paintings. The seven spots represented her seven joys and sorrows.

Often ladybirds are thought to be signs of good luck.

Ladybirds can be an effective way of helping to control pests in any garden or enhance a wildlife area. What better way to help develop a child’s natural curiosity by installing a ladybird tower (house) to help increase the number of ladybirds in your school grounds.

Posted on Tuesday, February 19th, 2008 at 19:08 in General Interest & News, Wildlife. Tagged: aphids, Coccinellidae+family, insects, Ladybird, ladybird+tower Subscribe to comments RSS 2.0 feed. Respond, or trackback.