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My potted night blooming jasmines are being decimated by ladybugs. I found at least a dozen larvae on one of them. They're supposed to be beneficial, but the plants, which were lush and ready to bloom, are practically leafless. I see no signs of aphids or other pests. What should I do?
Ladybugs don't eat plants so I suspect there's something else munching your plants and you just haven't caught them in the act. Either that or what you think are ladybug larvae are actually something else.
They are ladybugs; I brought the little critters (larvae and pupae) inside, placed them on a white paper towel and compared them to photos of ladybug stages that I found, and they're identical. I suspected ladybugs from the beginning because I spotted a few of them moseying around.
You are absolutely right that they don't eat plants, it's just that I haven't found the culprit, which I almost always catch, unless this particular one works only at night!
I sprayed them with soap and water and hope that works. I also found some slugs on the saucer so I added some Bug-Geta as well.
If you found slugs in the saucer then they would be my #1 suspect--the damage you describe with leaves being entirely eaten is definitely something that they can do. I don't think the ladybugs should even be on the list of suspects--when you've found 2 types of critters on/near a plant and one of them is a voracious leaf eater and the other is a beneficial that doesn't eat plants, I think it's pretty clear who's to blame for the missing leaves! LOL I'd focus your efforts on getting rid of the slugs and stop spraying the ladybug larvae--you may need them later!
You're so right, I think I missed the slugfest because I only just found one or two this morning. We got rain again after a couple of weeks of dry weather.
Poor little ladybugs, I mistook them for evil creatures. Oh well, lesson learned. I'll leave the dear babies alone. Ecrane3, you've come through for me twice already. Thanks a bunch.
