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What do Ladybugs Eat & How to Care your Pet Ladybugs

What do Ladybugs Eat & How to Care your Pet Ladybugs

Some pet lovers like to have their own ladybugs because of their beautiful and distinctive colors, though these colors are not only for beautification, instead, these acts as a shield from the attacks of various predators.

The ladybugs or lady beetles secrete a fluid from their leg joints which give them a foul taste. The distinctive color of them is a reminder to their predators that they have tasted it before and it does not taste good.

A terrorized ladybird beetle can both play dead or secrete the unappetizing substance in order to protect itself.

How To Care Of Your Pet Ladybugs?

You can find a ladybug in your garden easily. Use a small net to catch it. In case you are planning to hold it or catch it with your finger, then be gentle. Once you catch a ladybug and ready to make it your pet, follow the steps below to look after it properly.

1. Take a spacious Container

Putting your ladybug in a spacious container is preferable as it will allow it to fly around and also settle when it is tired. You can add some fresh flowers, tree barks, leaves or small twigs which are its favorite habitat.

Also, they prefer to hide if threatened by your presence, so give them a place to hide. You can put a hollow twig or a seashell which will both enhance the beauty of your ladybug’s home and give it a place to hide.

While choosing a container people usually use a glass jar which looks really good but it is not at all suitable for ladybugs as glass will catch the heat and certainly you do not want to burn your pet.

Hermit crab houses are recommended if you are keeping the bug for more than 24 hours. You can get a small terrarium that suits the needs of your ladybug if you are planning to keep it as a pet in your house. Changing the flowers and twigs before they get rotten is also necessary as the fresh environment will help your bug to thrive well.

2. Feeding Your Ladybug

Remember, what you feed your ladybug and how often, both depend on the size of the bug. Too much feeding is highly discouraged. You can use a small container like a cap of the bottle to feed the bug. Feed a small amount of honey to your ladybug with the help of the cap, or you can feed it lettuce which is favorable to them. Feeding raisins will also add a special taste to their tiny mouth. Feeding twice a day is just enough.

3. Giving Water to your Bug

They do need water regularly, and giving it to them is very easy. Just add two to three drops of water in a cotton ball or a small tissue and put it inside the container. The bug will have it according to its need. Just do not put a large container filled with water as there’s a possibility that your bug might drown.

4. Whether to release or not?

In case you like your ladybug too much then you can keep it, but releasing it into the wild is recommended if you cannot look after it daily to keep it alive and healthy.

What Do Ladybugs Eat-In the Wild?

There are more than 5,000 different species of ladybugs, all of which are omnivorous in nature. They can sustain on both plants and smaller insects.

Most of the people who love ladybugs for their beauty do not know that they are very useful to the gardeners too. Farmers love these bugs for their appetite as they voraciously eat plant-eating insects.

Aphids are their special favorites; they lay hundreds of eggs in the aphid colonies and when the eggs hatch they start to feed on them.

Though there are some ladybugs which feed on crops, like the Mexican bean beetle and the squash beetle. So choosing the right bugs over the destructive ones is necessary.