Coleomegilla maculata Larvae (Pink Spotted Lady Beetle)

Coleomegilla maculata is a generalist predator. Where a specialist like Adalia bipunctata is built around aphids, C. maculata casts a wider net — and unusually for a lady beetle, it supplements with pollen, which keeps it fed and on-station when prey thins out:

• Primary targets: Aphids, thrips larvae, whitefly, and a range of insect eggs — out in the open, on the leaf, where you can see them.
• What else it'll take: Other small, soft-bodied pests opportunistically. It will eat a spider mite if one wanders by, but it's not a mite solution — for Spider Mites or Broad Mites, you'd want Predatory Mites instead.

C. maculata larvae are easy to keep happy, which is half the reason they establish so well. They're most active and develop fastest at normal room temperature — roughly 75–80°F. They'll keep working into the mid-60s, just more slowly, and go sluggish below about 55°F, so they're suited to indoor growing and shoulder-season conditions rather than a cold garage or a winter porch. Humidity isn't a concern: ordinary household levels are fine, with no misting or RH target to chase — a genuine advantage over predatory mites, which can be particular about moisture. Give them a normal indoor environment and prey to find, and they'll do the rest.

Choosing a biological predator is a matter of matching the "hardware" to the pest. Here's how to decide if our Pink-Spotted Lady Beetle larvae are your best move:

• Larvae vs. Adult Ladybugs: Choose the larvae when you need predators that stay. Adult ladybugs wake from dormancy hardwired to disperse — they eat, then they leave. Larvae can't fly. They walk your plant, eat continuously, and grow up already established where you put them.
• Larvae vs. Predatory Mites: Choose the larvae for visible, soft-bodied pests — aphids, thrips larvae, whitefly, and insect eggs out in the open. Choose Predatory Mites for the microscopic, "hidden" threats like Spider Mites or Broad Mites tucked into the tight crevices of new growth. The beetle will take a mite if it wanders by, but that's not the job it's built for.
• Larvae vs. Lacewings: Both are flightless and grow-light-friendly, so neither gets distracted by 24-hour lighting. Choose the larvae when pest pressure is uneven — C. maculata also eats pollen, so it stays fed and on-station when prey thins out, instead of starving or moving along.
• Larvae vs. Sprays: Choose the larvae to avoid chemical residues and "burn" on sensitive foliage. They're self-guided, working leaf by leaf so you don't have to — and as a North American native generalist, they're at home on a wide range of pests.

Putting larvae out is about as simple as it gets — and easier than adults, because there's no flight risk to manage.

Skip the misting: You don't need the "hydro-anchor" trick here. That's for adult ladybugs that fly off when they're thirsty. Larvae can't fly, so they're not going anywhere — a light misting won't hurt, but it isn't doing a job.

Time it however you like: No night-shift rule either, for the same reason. Dusk is fine, midday is fine. Larvae don't disperse, so release whenever it's convenient.

Spread them wide and thin: This is the one that matters. Sprinkle them across the planting — different plants, different stems — rather than dumping them in one spot. Larvae are enthusiastic eaters and indifferent about whose food it is, so crowd them and they'll start on each other. Spread out, they'll work the leaves methodically.

Start low, let them climb: Place them on the lower stems or at the base. They naturally crawl upward, scanning every leaf on the way up.

You've already got the alligators: No waiting a week to spot the "tiny alligator" larvae — that's what you're releasing. These spiky little hunters are the working stage, and they eat hard from day one.

Your larvae ship packed in carrier material — a dry, loose medium filling the space around them. It looks like packing debris. It isn't.

It's doing three things: spreading the larvae out so they're not piled up, giving them something to grip instead of sliding around loose, and keeping them apart. The apart part matters — crowded larvae will eat each other before they ever reach your plants.

When you release them, the carrier comes along. Don't pick the larvae out or shake them free. Tip or sprinkle the whole mix onto the plant and the surrounding soil. The larvae leave on their own; the carrier settles in and does nothing you'll notice.

No — and that's the entire point of buying the larval stage. The dispersal flight that sends adult ladybugs packing is a wing thing, and larvae don't have working wings. They hatch, they walk, and they spend their whole larval life on the plant you put them on. By the time they grow up, they've already settled in.

Aphids, thrips larvae, whitefly, and a range of insect eggs — the soft-bodied stuff out in the open where you can see it. Unusually for a lady beetle, they also eat pollen, which is good news: it means they stay fed and on-station when pest pressure dips, instead of starving or wandering off.

Not really, and we'd rather tell you now than take the order. A maculata larva will eat a spider mite if it crosses one, but it isn't built to clear a mite infestation tucked into new growth. For mites, you want Predatory Mites — that's a different aisle, and we stock it.

Because they'll eat each other if you don't. Larvae are voracious and not picky about whose food is whose, so a pile of them in one spot turns into a smaller pile. Sprinkle them across plants and stems and they'll hunt methodically instead of cannibalizing.

No. That trick works for adult ladybugs, which go dormant when chilled. Larvae are an actively-feeding stage — refrigeration is far more likely to kill them than to buy you time. Release them promptly when they arrive.

Completely. They look like tiny spiky alligators, and that's exactly what a healthy maculata larva is supposed to look like. Those are your hunters, working from day one — not a problem, the product.