The 4 Stages of the Ladybug Life Cycle

Adult ladybugs feed on soft-bodied insects, just as their larvae do. Adults overwinter, usually hibernating in aggregations. They mate soon after becoming active again in the spring.

Why You Should Consider Using Ladybug Larvae In Your Garden

Pests are one of the biggest nuisances in gardening, and they can destroy your plants and vegetables quickly once they appear. Luckily, there’s an insect that will protect your garden from such harmful bugs. Ladybugs, which are sometimes referred to as lady beetles, prey on insects that commonly eat garden plants. Aphids, which love to eat plants and vegetables and can also spread viruses to them, are a ladybug larva’s favorite food. As a result, by attracting ladybugs to your garden or releasing these friendly bugs near your plants, you can cut down on your garden’s pest problems naturally.

While mature ladybugs will eat their fair share, the appetite of ladybug larvae is even greater. One ladybug larva can eat upward of 300 aphids during its approximate one-month development. Further, ladybugs lay lots of eggs, sometimes over 1,000 in a few months, which means your garden can have ladybug larvae protecting it in a very short while. Not to mention, beyond aphids, ladybugs also feast on other soft-bodied insects, such as thrips, scales, mites, and white flies, all of which can prove harmful to a garden as well.

How to attract ladybugs to your garden

If you want to inspire ladybugs to visit your garden, growing flat-topped flowers and plants that produce a lot of pollen provides an additional food source for ladybugs, which will help them stick around. Dill, yarrow, angelica, marigold, fennel, sweet asylum, and calendula are all known to attract ladybugs. It’s also important to avoid using pesticides. While insecticides will kill aphids harming your garden, they will harm the ladybugs as well. While some pesticides like neem oil won’t kill ladybugs, they will eliminate their main source of food, and the adults will leave in search of a better spot to lay their eggs — taking their future larvae with them.

Another great way to keep ladybugs around is by providing a place for them to hibernate in the winter. You can build a ladybug hibernation center by tying stalks of bamboo together, placing it in a pot, and stuffing it with straw. If you wait until spring to clear out dead stems in your garden and yard, you won’t disturb any ladybugs that happen to be resting there.

Buying and releasing ladybugs

You can purchase ladybugs if you have trouble attracting them to your garden or yard. Ladybugs can be found for sale on Amazon and in stores like Lowe’s, but it’s important to make sure you purchase insects native to your area. When you’re ready to release your ladybugs, it’s also best to do so at dusk and to avoid letting them all go at once, releasing them instead over a span of a few days.

It can be helpful to put ladybugs directly onto the plants that need pest control and to either spray your plants with water or set out a small dish of water for them (and their future hungry larvae). If you do leave a container of water out, be sure to change it out regularly. You can also install a ladybug house, like this one from Amazon, and leave cotton balls soaked with water inside.

The 4 Stages of the Ladybug Life Cycle

Debbie Hadley is a science educator with 25 years of experience who has written on science topics for over a decade.

Ladybugs are known by several other names: lady beetles, ladybug beetles, and ladybird beetles. Regardless of what you call them, these beetles belong to the family Coccinellidae. All ladybugs progress through a four-stage life cycle known as complete metamorphosis.

Embryonic Stage (Eggs)

The ladybug life cycle begins with an egg. Once she has mated, the female ladybug lays a cluster of five to 30 eggs.   She usually deposits her eggs on a plant with suitable prey for her offspring to eat when they hatch; aphids are a favorite food. In a three-month period that commences in spring or early summer, a single female ladybug can produce more than 1,000 eggs.  

Scientists believe ladybugs lay both fertile and infertile eggs in the cluster. When aphids are in limited supply, the newly hatched larvae will feed on the infertile eggs.

Larval Stage (Larvae)

In two to 10 days, ladybug larvae emerge from their eggs.   Species and environmental variables such as temperature can shorten or lengthen this timeframe. Ladybug larvae look somewhat like tiny alligators, with elongated bodies and bumpy exoskeletons. In many species, the ladybug larvae are black with brightly colored spots or bands.

In the larval stage, ladybugs feed voraciously. In the two weeks it takes to become fully grown, a single larva can consume 350 to 400 aphids.   Larvae feed on other soft-bodied plant pests as well, including scale insects, adelgids, mites, and insect eggs. Ladybug larvae don’t discriminate when feeding and will sometimes eat ladybug eggs, too.

The newly hatched larva is in its first instar, a developmental stage that occurs between molts. It feeds until it grows too big for its cuticle, or soft shell, and then it molts. After molting, the larva is in the second instar. Ladybug larvae usually molt through four instars, or larval stages, before preparing to pupate. The larva attaches itself to a leaf or other surface when it is ready to pupate, or metamorphose, into its adult form.

Pupal Stage (Pupae)

In its pupal stage, the ladybug is usually yellow or orange with black markings. The pupa remains still, attached to a leaf, throughout this stage. The ladybug’s body undergoes a remarkable transformation, directed by special cells called histoblasts. They control a biochemical process through which the larval body is broken down and reformed into the adult ladybug.

The pupal stage lasts between seven and 15 days.  

Imaginal Stage (Adult Beetles)

Newly emerged adults, or imagos, have soft exoskeletons, making them vulnerable to predators until their cuticles harden. They appear pale and yellow when they emerge but soon develop the deep, bright colors for which ladybugs are known.

Adult ladybugs feed on soft-bodied insects, just as their larvae do. Adults overwinter, usually hibernating in aggregations. They mate soon after becoming active again in the spring.

Finding Eggs and Larvae

A garden plant prone to aphid infestations is a prime ladybug habitat. To familiarize yourself with the ladybug life cycle, visit this plant daily. Take your time examining the leaves, lifting them to observe the undersides, and you’ll likely find a cluster of bright yellow eggs.

Within a few days, tiny ladybug larvae will hatch, and you’ll find the odd-looking immature ladybugs on the prowl for aphids. Later, you’ll see dome-shaped pupae, shiny and orange. If aphids are abundant, adult ladybugs will hang around, too.

1. Raupp, Mike, et al. “Predators -Ladybird Beetles (Ladybugs).” University of Maryland Extension, University of Maryland College of Agriculture and Natural Resources.
2. “Lady Beetles (Coleoptera: Coccinellidae).” Biological Control, Cornell University College of Agriculture and Life Sciences.
3. Ramsey, Michelle. “Ladybug, Ladybug, Fly Away Home.” The Real Dirt Blog, University of California Agriculture and Natural Resources, 12 Feb. 2015.
4. “Ladybug.” San Diego Zoo Animals and Plants.