If you have a new account but are having problems posting or verifying your account, please email us on hello@boards.ie for help. Thanks :)

Hello all! Please ensure that you are posting a new thread or question in the appropriate forum. The Feedback forum is overwhelmed with questions that are having to be moved elsewhere. If you need help to verify your account contact hello@boards.ie

7-spot ladybird diet

periodictable · 2013-07-16 11:42:26

I've just come across a large number of 7-spot ladybirds feeding on 2yo downy birch. There were anything from 2-5 bugs on each plant. There were no aphids that I could see, so I wonder what they were eating-there was no obvious sign of mildew on the leaves, so just wondering what exactly their diet consists of. There were…

Options

16-07-2013 12:42pm

#1

periodictable

Closed Accounts Posts: 931 ✭✭✭

Join Date: September 2012

Posts: 837

I've just come across a large number of 7-spot ladybirds feeding on 2yo downy birch. There were anything from 2-5 bugs on each plant. There were no aphids that I could see, so I wonder what they were eating-there was no obvious sign of mildew on the leaves, so just wondering what exactly their diet consists of.
There were silver birch of the same age nearby, and these had no ladybirds. As a forester I wonder if growing large areas of downy birch near sitka plantations might be a partial solution to the perennial problem of aphid attack on sitka.

1