Science: Rough on Aphids

George Curtis Quick, ladybug merchant of Phoenix, Ariz., was as busy last week as any of his bugs. Orders were flooding in from all over the country. An Oklahoma farmer ordered 1,000 gallons of bugs (135,000 bugs per gal.). A group in the Texas Panhandle wanted all that “Pappy” Quick could supply. The price: $7.50 per gal., in lots of ten gallons or more.

In his years as a professional crop-duster, Pappy saw the damage that poisons can do in upsetting the balance of nature. They often kill all insects, including those that eat other insects. Heavy dusting or spraying is often followed by a plague of sapsucking plant lice (aphids), which are normally held within bounds by their natural enemies, ladybugs.* The logical answer: supply ladybugs.

Pappy established himself in Phoenix and scouted around for sources of bug supply. Several Western species have a fortunate habit of flying up canyons to hibernate, gathering in large masses on rocks or bushes. They can be brushed off and sold to Pappy, who hibernates them artificially in refrigerators at 36° F.

Pappy’s bugs are collected by canyon-tromping outdoor types in most of the Rocky Mountain states. In spring he ships them by air as far away as Detroit. As soon as they eat a few aphids, they begin to reproduce. The eggs laid by the females hatch into larvae that look like miniature Gila monsters and devour up to 50 aphids a day. In around 20 days the larvae are ready to reproduce, too. “We just plant the seeds,” says Pappy, “it’s the multiplication does the work.”

With the demand far greater than the supply, Pappy tries to tell farmers how to make the most of their bugs. “You gotta be patient with them,” he warns his customers. “They are easily frightened, timid bugs. Just lay them down gently, one handful at a time, and they’ll go right to work next day.”

*Entomological purists insist that ladybugs are not true bugs (Hemiptera), but beetles (Coleoptera).