Quote Originally Posted by AllenScott
The hunting from the start makes a lot of sense on wild lady bugs. I believe there are some seasonal factors as well that influence their hunger. I may try the dryer sheet trick and see what happens. I'll watch, and smell, closely as I do worry a bit about smell moving to the plants. I'm hyper dedicated to clean medicine and don't want to contaminate any of it. Peace.
I got a couple pennies for ya.

I use the Kirkland brand.
They are less "scented' than Bounce.
And I just lay them on the soil surface.
That keeps the flyers from laying eggs and any larva already in the soil from becoming fliers

They have not stunk-up the buds from that distance. ('bout 4 inches from the bottom buds)
Well, more accurately. after a week of drying, my nose can't detect any "smell of sheet" in the popcorn nugs
So far, so good!

There are two points I'd like to make about ladybugs.

One, it's the ladybug larva that do the bulk of the mite noshing.
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The effective method is to release the adult at dusk so they will spend the night
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and hopefully, lay eggs in the morning.


Then they can "fly away home".

And B, many of the "ladybugs" being sold are not actually ladybugs.
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Some are harlequin beetles.
Look for a "W" on the thorax instead of the "eyespots".
In Hawaii, we have black ones with red eyespots, and they bite!.

"However, the question of what do ladybugs eat is much more complex than this.
There are exceptions to most every rule, for example sub family Epilachninae can actually be considered vegetarian ladybugs.
Some of them eat fungus, like mushrooms.
There are some that like to dine on mildew. !!!
Still others prefer eating leaves and can even become pests of some plants. "



As usual, it's best to read the friendly manual and do some homework.

They avoid the dryer sheets too so ya can't use both methods of control at the same time.

And a side note.
Dryer sheets do not stop red spider mites completely but will deter the ladybugs from eating them for us. <sigh>

Aloha ya'll

Weezard.