Garden Design Tips - Lady Bugs
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Lady Bugs have been the subject of superstition for centuries, nearly always as a harbinger of good luck, particularly of bountiful harvests. As with many folk beliefs, there is a sound basis for these superstitions since lady bugs are indeed a gardener's best friend.
In addition, they add a cheery touch wherever you find them with their vibrantly colored, distinctively spotted coats. While lady bugs in your garden are a welcome sight, they can be a nuisance if you find a swarm infesting your home.
You might be surprised to know that these infestations are most likely not natives of North America but their Asian cousins. These Asian variety don't hibernate outdoors like the indigenous specimens. Instead, they seek out the warmth of homes, especially older structures that are accessible by cracks and crevices.
Please don't ever try to poison lady bugs, even if it seems like they are taking over your house. Instead, get rid of them in a humane fashion by trapping and releasing them. One tried and true method is vacuuming up the little critters with a nylon stocking in place to trap them alive.
You can also lure them with a trap-light device and then safely release them outdoors. Luckily, these infestations don't carry disease, and they don't lay eggs inside your home. Of course, it helps if you seal up any points of access too, so get some caulk and start filling those cracks before the cold weather sets in.
It might surprise you too to know that besides orange and red, lady bugs can be black, white, yellow, or even pink, with as many as 15 telltale spots or none at all. Have you ever seen a black one with a red spot? Those go by the fierce moniker, "Twice Stabbed Lady Beetle".
It is important to be able to identify the larvae as well, or you might mistake them for pests and destroy them. Usually, all that is needed to attract them to your garden is the right mixture of botanical specimens. They prefer umbrella-shaped flowers, so you can look for the ideal specimens at your local nursery or inquire of the gardening department at your favorite lawn and garden outlet.
Geraniums and cosmos are two flowers that lady bugs adore. In fact, an aphid invasion could be the best way to attract these lovely insects, since aphids make up the bulk of a their diet. In their lifetime, lady bugs eat thousands of these garden pests, earning them their favor with gardeners everywhere.
Lady bugs consume other garden pests also, which is why you should try to avoid using harmful pesticides in your garden. They will kill our dear lady bugs and destroy their food supply as well.
Even though it's tempting to rely on harsh chemical insecticides, if you let nature and lady bugs take their course, in the long run you will have a healthier garden and we will all have a healthier planet.
The Fighting Lady
Oscar Winner 1945 (Best Documentary, Features) "The Fighting Lady," provides a portrait of life on a World War II aircraft carrier, a vessel that is "enormous, wonderful, and strange to us." After profiling the various activities of the soldiers' day and following the ship's voyage through the Panama Canal, the film takes the audience through a litany of actual combat engagements. The Fighting Lady participates in a strike on the Marcus Islands, then defends itself against a surprise nighttime raid by Japanese fighters. Some of the photography comes from cameras set up in the cockpits of American planes, showing first hand what it's like to be diving through enemy anti-aircraft fire. The film culminates in a major confrontation with the Imperial Japanese Battle Fleet. In this massive operation, later dubbed the "Marianas Turkey Shoot," American pilots downed almost four hundred Japanese Zeros, while incurring only twenty-two losses themselves.
lady Video Rating: 4 / 5
Orignal From: The Fighting Lady
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