Ladybirds On Bonsai

It’s always nice to see a ladybird in the garden, but at the same time no one wants insects on their trees.

Luckily when it comes to ladybirds, they are actually your friend and are a good thing so they are nothing to worry about.

Although, they can be a sign that you may have a problem, so you should always be on the lookout for them and check what they are doing when they are near your bonsai collection.

What Are Ladybirds?

Ladybirds or lady bugs as they can also be known are a type of little beetle. There Latin name is Coccinellidae and basically there are a lot of different species and most of them you actually want in your garden and are considered a beneficial insect.

They are small and red (sometimes yellow or orange) with black spots. As they are actually little beetles some species are just black, so just look like normal beetles, but are actually ladybirds.

Can Ladybirds Damage Your Bonsai?

The good news is that ladybirds will not damage your bonsai trees. The vast majority of them actually eat other insects so you tree is totally safe.

There are types of ladybirds that do eat plants, but these are not really that common. The Mexican Bean Beetle is probably the most famous one, but they will only eat legumes and other bean growing plants.  

Luckily we don’t use these plants for bonsai so anything you are growing is going to be left alone.

This species is also only found in Mexico and North America, so a lot of you reading this won’t need to worry about this anyway.

How Are Ladybird Beneficial To Bonsai?

The main benefit of having ladybirds is the fact they are insect eaters. They actually eat the most common pests that our bonsai can suffer from.

Ladybirds love to eat aphids, scale insects and whitefly as well as some other pests that actually do damage your tree.

Some species of ladybirds also eat mould and fungus that is growing on the tree, such as powdery mildew, which can also be a common problem on bonsai.

They also look really nice. I’m not sure if that is a real benefit, but they do make me smile and if they are eating any pests that may be trying to damage my tree, then that is even better.

What Does It Mean If You See Ladybirds On Your Bonsai?

Most times when you see a ladybird near your tree, they are probably passing though and it’s nothing to really worry about.

However, if you notice a lot of them, or they seem to be around all the time, it could mean your tree is infested with pests.

Ladybirds are only going to hang around if there is a good source of food, so if you have any infestation of pests on your tree, it’s likely they are enjoying the rich buffet that is on offer. 

If you ever spot ladybirds near your trees, you should just check them to see what is going on. They may be the first indictor that your trees have pests, but hopefully the ladybirds are just look around to see what is on offer and then moving on when they don’t find anything.

Should You Encourage Ladybirds To Your Bonsai?

Yes and No.

You certainly shouldn’t be trying to get rid of ladybirds, but at the same time I don’t really see the point in trying to encouraging them to come.

The only way to attract them is to have insects on your trees, which is something we do not want in the first place.

You can try and grow other plants nearby that can attract them, but again these plants need to have pests on them to attract the ladybirds.

I don’t think it makes sense to grow plants that attract pests near your trees, as there is nothing stopping the pests jumping over to your trees.

However, when you are growing your trees outside, it’s kind of hard to quarantine your trees from other plants or pests so I would not get too caught up about trying to think about all this.

Pesticides Are More Effective

The main reason why I think you should not encourage ladybirds is because they are not going to eliminate an infestation of pests.

They will certainly eat the pests and they do help a lot, but really they are only going to keep the problem in check, they will not get rid of it completely.

If your tree has pests the only thing you can do is treat the problem yourself. This does mean you need to use some sort of pesticide as it’s the only way to deal with the problem completely.

I would not really worry about the ladybirds, just let nature do its thing. If they come, that’s lovely, if they don’t, then that is okay too. I don’t think we need to actively encourage them around our bonsai.

Should You Buy Ladybirds For Your Garden?

You can actually buy ladybirds. You can do it online. They will arrive in the post and then you can open the box and set them loose in your garden.

There is nothing stopping you from doing this, but there is also nothing stopping them just flying away and going elsewhere.

If you are looking after your trees, they should be pest free, so really there is no food for the ladybirds and they are probably not going to hang around as they will want to find food elsewhere.

Personally I think buying ladybirds for bonsai is a waste of money, but if you have a garden with plenty of other plants it might be good for that, but not for bonsai.

Also if you find you have pests and think buying a box of ladybirds will be the best solution, your tree will probably suffer. While they will help, you are much better off trying to remove the pests yourself and then using pesticide to finish them off. This is the only way to really make sure your tree stays healthy.

Conclusion

Ladybirds are your friend, but hopefully you don’t see them very often.

If your trees are healthy and pest free then the ladybirds will have no reason to hang around your trees.

I like to see them as little security guards, they stop by and check everything is okay on the trees and make sure there are no pests before leaving and if there is a problem, their red jackets are like a little flag to let me know there may be a lot of pests on the trees.

(You can read more information about other animals that might be causing trouble for you bonsai – How To keep Squirrels, Birds and Other Animals Out Of Bonsai Pots)