Beneficial Ladybugs
The ladybug (or lady beetle), Hippodamia convergens, is perhaps the most famous of all beneficial insects for biological pest control. They feed on aphids, about 40-50 aphids per day, but will also eat a wide variety of other insects and larva including scales, mealybugs, leafhoppers, mites and other soft bodied insects and their eggs. Ladybugs are most effective if released before pest populations are large. Apply them early and allow them time to reduce your pest problem. Ladybugs will lay eggs on plants so look out for the larvae, which feed on pest insects just as voraciously as the adults.