Features:

  • If temperatures are over 85 degrees F. in your area, please choose expedited shipping. A favorite "good bug," ladybugs have been a popular beneficial insects for the past 20 years
  • When released at sundown (because they don't fly at night), ladybugs eat aphids, mealy bugs, scale, leaf hoppers, and other destructive pests
  • They keep on eating until the bad guys are gone
  • Ladybugs prefer to eat aphids and will devour up to 50 a day
  • You will receive approximately 1,500 live Lady Bugs plus Hirt's Nature Nectar
All's great that ends so well

I purchased this with high hopes for a sudden aphid infestation in my pyracantha shrubs in South Carolina. I paid for expedited shipping and was dismayed to get the delivery range for up to 5 days out. I was very concerned the bugs would die in the huge heat wave across the South this week. I commented to Hirt's, the assured me the delivery would be in 2 days. The bugs arrived today, very vigorous and raring to go. I put them in the fridge until evening. My wife and I applied the nectar as heavily as we could on the shrubs where the aphids were. We waited until sunset to pull the bags out of the fridge. They were considerably slower, very little movement. Ten minutes out though they were choming at the bit to get out. About 15 minutes after sunset we opened the bag at each plant to let some ladybugs out on the limbs wet with nectar and crawling with aphids. All ladybugs had arrived alive and vigorous, almost no ladybugs flew away, instead getting right to the nectar and aphids. While some may fly away, we're certain a good many and their progeny will make our garden their home.

Great Way to Help the Environment and Provide Organic Natural Pest Control

This was an amazing purchase, and I feel WONDERFUL for helping out my neighborhood and my planet by releasing these ladybugs in our garden. They arrived quickly, and all but about 5-6 bugs survived the journey so we were happy with the fact that 99% arrived alive, even in July in Mid-Missouri with 90-degree weather. We refrigerated them for a few hours, which slowed them down a lot, and after nightfall - about 10 pm - we took the mesh pouch they were in and the recommended cola water and nectar mixture. Before releasing them we lightly misted all the plants in our garden with plain water, then we went along and sprayed the plants with the nectar mixture in a quart of water. After that, we shook them down from one corner and carefully cut that corner of the pouch open. Because they were slightly cool they did not move fast at all and we were able to apply them directly to the areas we wanted them to make sure were aphid-free before they moved out to help my neighbors plants too. It was a BEAUTIFUL sight. They warmed back up quickly and began spreading out immediately, as I sprayed them lightly with the cola water. Within hours they were mating and checking out every part of every plant for possible food as well. In the morning, there were still many still crawling around our garden, and we had one land on a water hyacinth in our pond making for a beautiful photo op too! Within a few days they had dispersed to there only being a few here and there in our garden, but I feel GREAT knowing they are now out helping my neighbors, laying eggs, and helping to control pest insects and damage to plants in our area. What an awesome purchase! We are about to move to the country and I plan to buy several pouches to release when we move to our new place. It's a great way to help the environment and a beautiful addition to your garden for natural organic pest control!

Ladybug Bomb.

I recently transplanted some herbs from my garden outside, inside my garage, to sit under a light. Unfortunately, I had the herbs sitting next to about 100 seedlings I was starting for my winter garden, and you can guess what happened. Aphids. Everywhere, including inside my house. I ordered these ladybugs about a week too late after discovering the problem, and by the time they arrived (the seller sent them on time), I had about 20 strong seedlings left. They were being sucked dry, and no matter how many times I sprayed the plants with internet home remedies, and picked them off with my fingers, they just kept hatching. The problem was that I had eliminated their natural predators in the wild, namely spiders, ladybugs, and many other beneficial bugs. So I purchased 1500 of these ladybugs, which was almost defintely way too many, for a small tiered indoor garden. I cut the bag, and dumped the bugs on problem plants, and then just left them to exit the bag on their own in the worst pots. These ladybugs started ripping the heads off of my aphids, almost instantly. I had my 3.5 year old daughter with me, because she loves ladybugs, and we just sat there in awe, as around 1000 ladybugs, devoured these aphids. They were ripping them to pieces! It was quite exciting. It has only been about 5 hours since I let them loose, and I now have ladybugs in weird corners of my garage, but the aphids are just about gone. I still see some old white exo-skeletons clinging to the seedlings, but they are almost all gone. Amazing, and fun to watch!

can I just say that releasing these guys with my kids was one of the most awesome experiences?

Ummmm...can I just say that releasing these guys with my kids was one of the most awesome experiences?!? These shipped all the way to us in Alaska and very few died. It was so fun letting them go! They seemed thristy though and loved the nectar provided with the shipment. Will definitely order more from this company in the future...even if I'm aphid free. Just too fun to pass up!

Ladybugs are free spirits!

I received ladybugs quickly and they were all alive. I put them in frig for a bit to calm them and mixed up the nectar in a small spray bottle. Once I was ready to release I sprayed all the plants with nectar and sprayed the bag with ladybugs with a mixture of cola and water as directed to keep them from flying away. About an hour later I released them on the plants which was a joyful experience. Some of them clustered on the plants while other walked off and away from the garden. By day 3 all but 1 ladybug was gone. I will assume her name is Ann. Where they went I do not know. Overall it was a fairly inexpensive experience that I enjoyed that the earth benefited from and not my garden. I'd do it again for the novelty but not as an actual pest control method. I guess the Nursery rhyme rings true now. Ladybug, ladybug fly away home, Your house is on fire and your children are gone, All except one, And her name is Ann, And she hid under the baking pan.

Release the Ladybugs!!

Releasing the Ladybugs is an annual thing for our family. People of all ages should enjoy this. If you release them at dusk, spray the ladybug nectar on your plants and put some food and a little homemade house for them to go it at night when they don't fly, they will return until the food is gone. I use small plastic cups, cut a door on the lid and flip them over on dandelions sprayed with the nectar in or near the plants. The Ladybugs will devour those plant eating bugs, up to 50-60 per day. I find this so much better than spraying pesticides. Kids love the ladybugs crawling all over them. I must be a big kid because I do too!! You can't beat the price for an ultimate life experience.

Great product! Best lady bug buy ever!

Almost all of the 1500 lady bugs arrived alive. The pollen nectar was the key in keeping them on the plants. Refridgerating them per instructions worked perfectly. We turned the release of them into a fun family night with the neighbors. We refrigerated them for a day and then put 50 or so in small paper bags with a bit of the nectar on a leaf in a hand molded piece of tin foil at the bottom of the bag. Then kept them inside in the air conditioning to keep them calm. I sprayed all the desired plants in the area and each child picked an area to release them. We even had lady bug races! It was an inexpensive family fun time with nature learning as a big bonus. I loved this product. The lady bugs, my plants and all the family and friends that helped release them were very happy - EXCEPT the aphids!😁.

Good for the garden, fun to release.

Love these things. Sure, they're helpful to a garden and can control pests without chemicals... but it's just so fun for my daughter to release them. It has become a tradition to release a box of ladybugs in our school's community garden each year. This year, we even made an event of it by timing their release for when a class of 2nd-graders was at the garden as well. I was worried how many would be dead after shipment, but they did just fine. If what they say about the spots being an indicator of a ladybug's age, there were an array of ages to the box.

Fantastic bugs

I was afraid that they would all get here dead, as the information for the ladybugs recommends I order two day shipping in hot areas. I'm in California and the days have been 100+. However, the two day shipping for the ladybugs was an astronomical $20, far more than the bugs themselves. So I sighed and did regular shipping, gambling on at least some of them being alive. Every single bug lived. They even sat in their box in the sun down by my garage for a whole day and a half (my bad, the one day I didn't track my shipping and there they were) and miraculously, they all lived. And the coolest part about this seller is the nectar they send with the bugs. I mixed that up in a 32oz squirt bottle (32oz=1qt) and spent about 20 minutes last night spraying down my peppers, pumpkins, zucchini, radishes, you name it. Then I had to wrestle some bugs away from the corner of the bag so I could cut the corner off. They immediately began swarming out all over the bag and my hand - they tickle. I just went from plant to plant, brushing the escapees off of the bag onto my plants. They were very thirsty ladybugs, as soon as they hit the nectar they stopped and drank. It was neat to watch. And since it was night, none of them flew away, they all stayed where I put them. The remaining few I couldn't get out of the bag, I left them in it and then put the bag inside my most infested zucchini plant. This morning I came out to check on them and they were happily munching on aphids. Hungry ladybugs! The bag was completely empty, reaffirming my stunned disbelief that every single bug lived. Found a few of them "getting married," so maybe my aphid infested garden is honeymoon material. Hoping to see ladybug larvae soon. There was some nectar left so I'll keep spraying it to encourage the ladybugs to stick around. There's still plenty of aphids for them to eat too, so I hope a good amount of them decide to make my garden their home. If not, I'll just order more. They got here fast and in great condition. If you're nervous about ordering ladybugs online, don't be with this seller. I have terrible luck when it comes to ordering things online and these guys beat the odds. Thank you Hirts.

Very hungry and LIVE ladybugs

This was not my first time ordering ladybugs through the mail, but it was the first time that got here and all of them were still alive. It was two day shipping, and they put what appeared to be an ice-pack (great idea!) in with the ladybugs. Of course the ice pack was very hot by the end of the two days, but it seems to have helped. I let the ladybugs out as soon as they got here and they went right to work. I could not open the mesh bag fast enough for them; they were so hungry. It took them three days to eat up most of our pests and they were gone, except for a handful that stayed behind to make my backyard their permanent home.

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