13 February 2007

Coccinella

The ladybirds arrived in tact. It was raining so in an effort to avoid them all dieing in the rain they were kept inside and fed on aphids overnight. Next day 10 were released, 5 on the brussel sprouts, 5 on the cauliflowers. The remainder were kept two more days until the weather cleared up a bit and released. It's now a few days later and no sign of any ladybirds anywhere!

I have noticed that the aphids are not spreading very quickly. It is as if one plant is weak and the aphids prefer that one - leaving the others relatively unaffected. Alternatively, the wasps are doing their job. Its a sunny day today and there's a few hoverflys around too. They, apparently, eat the aphids too. It's reasonable to assume the spiders in the cauliflowers are doing likewise.

01 February 2007

Undecimpunctata

Zonda can supply 25 of the 11-spotted ladybird (Coccinella undecimpunctata) to chomp on my brassica aphids for $12.50 (+GST +shipping = $25.31 total). Time for another habitat experiment in the vege patch. This time, with the right species, there's some chance the aphids will be someone else's supper and the brassica mine.