Organic aphids increase chances of ladybird survival

10 July 2012

A new study, co-authored by the Natural Environmental Research Council (NERC), has found that ladybird larvae fed on aphids from organic crops are more likely to survive than those fed on bugs from crops grown with conventional fertilisers.

The research, published in Biological Control, demonstrates that ladybird larvae fed on organically-raised aphids stand a 10% greater chance of making it to adulthood. This increase could potentially have very large consequences for how farmers work with the environment to naturally control pests.

Dr Jo Staley of NERC's Centre for Ecology & Hydrology (CEH), one of the paper's authors, said the research established “that a simple change of fertiliser in a single crop plant can produce a significant difference to ladybird mortality.”

Organic farming has long advocated the employment of natural pest control methods – also known as ‘biological control’ – such as ladybirds and lacewings. This study suggests such tactics may be more or less beneficial depending on how particular farmers fertilise their crops.

Read the full article here.