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Lady Bugs and Lupine Aphids

6/8/2016

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Picture
If you grow lupines in your garden or have them growing nearby, you may have noticed clusters of fuzzy, grayish-blue bugs on the stems in early spring. You may have also noticed ladybugs on your lupines. The bluish-gray bugs are lupine aphids. While lupines are their primary host, they will sometimes infest other plants as well. I spotted several "weeds" along the side of the road loaded with lupine aphids a few days ago. Fortunately, they have not found their way to my garden bed, but they are on an adjacent property.

If you are wondering why the ladybug is hanging out, you might be surprised to learn that she is after a tasty meal. Ladybugs devour aphids and keep coming back for more.
Picture

Are lupine aphids harmful?

The lupine aphids pictured above cover the stems of the lupine plants and suck the juice from the plant. If the infestation is severe, they will damage or kill the plant. They may also inject a virus into the stem that will cause your lupines to wilt. If infestations are light, you may not see damage in your lupines. The aphids hang around, even after the blooms are gone, and feed on the lupine plant until midsummer. When the population gets too great, they will develop wings and fly to a new host plant. Typically, aphids are in flight in late summer or early fall in my area of Maine.
Picture

Ladybugs to the Rescue!

If you want to get rid of lupine aphids, try ordering ladybugs and letting them loose near the lupine plants. You can purchase 1500 ladybugs on Amazon or a similar site for under $10.00. To encourage the ladybugs to stick around, consider purchasing Duncraft's Ladybug house and place a small sponge soaked in sugar water inside the house to attract the ladybugs. This convenient little house provides shelter for the ladybugs and even gives them a place to overwinter when cool weather arrives.
I hope you enjoyed the photos of ladybugs and aphids on lupines today and found the information useful.

                                                                Until Next Time . . . HAPPY GARDENING!

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Photo used under Creative Commons from MyArtfulLife
  • Home
  • Garden Thyme Blog
  • Themes
    • Butterfly Gardens
    • Moon Gardens
    • Sensory Gardens
    • All About Fairies
  • Flowers
    • Annual Flowers >
      • Alyssum
      • Cosmos
      • Geraniums
      • Marigolds
      • Morning Glories
      • Nasturtiums
      • Petunias >
        • Reviving Petunias
      • Snapdragons
      • Sunflowers
      • Sweet Peas
      • Zinnias
    • Perennial Flowers >
      • Golden Glow (Rudbeckia laciniata ‘Hortensia’)
      • Lupines
      • Purple Coneflower (Echinacea Purpurea)
    • Maine Wildflowers
  • Veggies
    • Warm Season Vegetables >
      • Beans >
        • Growing Beans
        • Growing Pole Beans
        • How to Make a Teepee Trellis
      • About Corn >
        • Growing Corn
        • What is Baby Corn, anyway?
        • Can you grow corn in containers?
      • Cucumbers >
        • Grow a cucumber in a bottle
        • Growing Pickling Cucumbers
        • Growing cucamelons (Mexican Gherkin)
        • Why do cucumbers blossom but fail to set fruit?
        • Trellising Cucumbers
        • Making Cucumber Relish
        • Powdery Mildew on Cucumbers
      • Melons
      • Peppers >
        • Growing Peppers
      • Squash >
        • Growing Zucchini
        • Spaghetti Squash
      • Tomatoes >
        • How to Harden Off Tomato Plants
        • How (and when) to Prune Tomatoes
        • Magnesium Sulfate (Epsom Salt) for Tomatoes
        • Blossom End Rot in Tomatoes
        • Growing Cherry Tomatoes in Hanging Baskets
        • 4 Best Tomatoes for Short Seasons - Early Tomatoes
        • 5 Early Maturing Tomatoes for Short Season Gardening
        • How to Ripen Green Tomatoes
        • How to Make Sun-Dried Tomatoes at Home
        • Grow Your Own Amazing Pomato Plant - Tomatoes on the Top and Potatoes on the Bottom
    • Cool Season Vegetables >
      • Cole Crops
      • Greens >
        • How to Grow Spinach
        • How to Grow Malabar Spinach
        • How to Grow Swiss Chard
        • Harvesting and Cooking Beet Greens
        • How to Grow Microgreens
      • Onions & Garlic >
        • How to Grow Garlic
        • How to Grow Onions
      • Peas >
        • Growing Garden (shelling) Peas
        • Growing Sugar Snap Peas
      • Potatoes >
        • How to Grow Potatoes in Containers
        • How to Grow Potatoes in Hay Bales
      • Root Crops >
        • Growing Beets
        • How to Grow Carrots
  • Herbs
    • Growing Basil
    • Growing Chives
    • Growing Lavender
    • Herbal Tea Garden
    • How to Grow a Culinary Herb Garden
    • How to Grow Herbs in Sponges
    • Colonial Herb Garden - Classroom Project
    • Herbed Butter
    • Making Herbed Oils
  • Gardening Basics
    • Seed Starting Basics
    • Grafting Basics
    • Soil >
      • Starting a New Garden
      • How to Prepare Soil
      • How to Test Soil Drainage
      • What Type of Soil Do You Have
      • Soil Mix Recipe for Containers
      • How to Make Compost Tea
      • How to Use Mulch
      • Control Blister Beetles
  • Birds
    • Hummingbirds >
      • DIY Hummingbird Feeders from Recycled Bottles
      • Annuals for Hummingbird Gardens
      • Perennials for Hummingbird Gardens
    • About Birdseed
    • Choosing a Birdfeeder
  • Fiddleheads and Fairies
  • About Us
  • Contact Us
  • How to Marinate Roasted Vegetables