How to Buy Lady Bugs Online

Ladybugs, also called ladybirds or lady beetles live in one form or other throughout the world. Though the common varieties are easily recognizable with shiny carapaces comprised of black, red, blue, or yellow spots, many ladybugs are plain black or grey and as such are often not recognized as ladybugs. Lots of people have superstitions relating to them, considering it good luck should one land on you and extremely bad luck to kill a ladybug. Ranging between 1 and 10 millimeters, these small insects can be a great aid to amateur gardeners and organic farmers alike. Most varieties of ladybug make a diet of aphids and other scale insects. Left unchecked these scale insects have the capacity to sicken or even kill plants as they feed on their vital moistures and fluids. Such scale insects often develop a waxy coating over their bodies which, when attached to a plant's stalk, prevents pesticides from coming into contact with their mucous membranes. As such many are effectively immune to pesticide sprays. This guide will take you step by step through the process of purchasing ladybugs online and introducing them into your garden.

Things You’ll Need:
Computer

Internet Connection

Web Browser

Credit Card

Mailing Address

Buying Ladybugs Online
Step 1:
Use your computer to open an internet browser.

Step 2:
Pull up a search engine using your web browser. Many web browsers have their own search engines installed, but you can type in the URL of any particular search engine you prefer.

Step 3:
Type in your search engine "Buy Ladybugs". This should give you a list of sites that will sell ladybugs either privately or commercially.

Step 4:
Choose a website and make your order. This organization is upstanding and reliable in my experience. (http://gardeningzone.com/index_130.html?osCsid=7a3136e6cabf8a08afbdfc3e59fd6500). When figuring out how many you should purchase remember to take into account the size of your garden. One ladybug can cover and patrol about one square foot of greenery, so get one for each square foot of your garden.

Step 5:
Once you've clicked on the button that says "Buy" or "Purchase" you'll be brought to a payment screen. The site will ask for your credit card and delivery information. Make sure to watch your credit card statements to be sure no one got a hold of that number that should not have.

Step 6:
When you've confirmed the order you should be provided with an electronic receipt. Either save this to your computer's hard drive or print out a copy. If your shipment fails to arrive you will need this when you contact the seller to complain.

Step 7:
Wait about a week, your shipment should arrive soon. You will get a cardboard box containing one or more sealed plastic bags. These bags will contain straw crawling with ladybugs.

Step 8:
Take the bag to your garden, open it and dip your hand in. Don't worry, ladybugs can't bite. Gently scoop up some straw, the ladybugs should hold onto that. Be sure to hold them loosely as they can be hurt easily. Scatter them throughout the garden as if you were dropping grass seeds in your lawn.

Step 9:
Repeat until the bag is empty. Congratulations. You've done something good for your garden as well as the ecosystem.

Tips & Warnings
Don't use pesticides on your plants for at least a week prior to introducing ladybugs to your garden. If they eat any insects that may have come into contact with pesticides or fungicides they will die. The average life expectancy for a ladybug is between one and two months. Check your garden every few weeks to see if any of the ladybugs you placed their have reproduced. If you see them crawling around great, if not you might want to consider ordering more.
Not all species of ladybug eat insects, some feed on plant life and should definitely not be introduced into your garden. make sure you know which is which before purchasing. Ladybugs can fly very well, don't release them indoors or you'll never get them all out of the house.

How to Buy a Praying Mantis Online

Praying mantises, referred to as mantids, are a fascinating species of insect to keep. Though the American versions are much smaller than their Asian cousins, they are still large enough to keep track of and small enough to easily house. As such they make an interesting and exotic pet and require very little maintenance. Thanks to the Internet many different species of mantid can be easily purchased from all around the world. This guide will explain how to order online and house a praying mantis.

Things You’ll Need:
Computer

Internet connection

Credit card

Paper towels

Transparent plastic containers 36oz minimum

Mesh lids

Rubber bands

Crickets

Fruit flies

Spray water bottle

Distilled water

Ordering A Praying Mantis Online
Step 1:
use your computer to search online using the phrase "Buy A Praying Mantis". This will give you plenty of possible sites to choose the mantis you want. Insectstore.com has a wide variety of species available and is very trustworthy.

Step 2:
Give the site your credit card and shipping information, making sure to get a notice of shipment and bill of sale. Keep these in case the mantis never arrives or doesn't survive transport. This is rare, mantids are tough little guys.

Step 3:
Also be sure to purchase foods for the mantis. When young they will eat primarily wingless fruit flies. As they grow they graduate to adult fruit flies and small crickets. Full grown mantids prey on adult crickets and most any other insect they can manage to kill. You can get crickets online or buy them at bait and tackle shops. Also any insects you catch while outdoors can supplement the mantid's diet.

Step 4:
Build the mantid's home using a plastic container which should be able to hold no less than 36 ounces. Line the bottom of the container with a paper towel. This should be replaced periodically as it will become saturated with the mantid's waste and molted shells. The lid of the container should be made of metal mesh, the vinyl mesh used to cover patios is also acceptable.

Step 5:
When the mantis arrives place it in the container and secure the mesh lid with several rubber bands. make sure the sides of the lid are held down tightly.

Step 6:
Feed the mantis daily and use the spray bottle to spritz the underside of the mesh lid with distilled water once every three or four days. Though mantid's gets most of the water they need from the insects they eat, the humidity helps keep their exoskeleton from drying out and flaking off, which can lead to fatal infections.

Tips & Warnings
Though no species of mantid can harm a human being, some are aggressive toward each other and should be housed separately. Immature and larval mantids should be separated from adults. The adults will eat the little ones.
Mantids are not particularly long lived, lasting about a year at most, so don't get too attached to one. If trying to mate mantids, be aware the male will likely be killed in the process by the female. When feeding your mantis insects you caught be aware that if that insect has come into contact with any pesticides, it will sicken and kill the mantis. If the container your mantis lives in is too big it may be unable to find its dinner and starve to death.

How to Buy Praying Mantis Eggs

Praying mantises, referred to as mantids, are a fascinating species of insect to keep. Though the American versions are much smaller than their Asian cousins, they are still large enough to keep track of and small enough to easily house. Though completely harmless to human beings mantids are the scourge of the insect world, able to prey upon and eat most any insect you can name. It is for this reason that they are often used by gardeners and organic farmers to suppress the number of dangerous pests to plants and food crops. In this article you will find instructions on how to go about buying praying mantis eggs and hatching them in your garden as a natural alternative to pesticides.

Things You’ll Need:
Computer

Internet connection

garden

Brown paper bag

Credit card

Gloves

Buying and hatching your Praying Mantis Eggs
Step 1:
Use your computer to look up "Praying Mantis Eggs" online. http://www.buyvegetableplants.com/prayingmantiseggs.html is a good reliable site to use. They also provide mantid food and care guides.

Step 2:
Use your credit card to order one egg case. A single egg case may hatch between fifty and two hundred mantids. Unless you are a commercial farmer or possess more than an acre of land you won't need more than a single egg case. One case will be good for about 3,000 square feet of vegetation.

Step 3:
Your egg should arrive by mail in seven to ten days. Make sure to get a receipt and order confirmation from the seller in case you fail to receive the egg, or it’s damaged upon arrival.

Step 4:
Remove the egg from its packaging. The surface of the egg case should be slightly sticky. Oils from your hands can damage the egg so only touch it with clean latex or gardening gloves.

Step 5:
Go outside and affix the egg case to the side of a leafy plant, preferably outside of direct sunlight. The egg case should hatch in 28 to 45 days. It will be difficult to tell as the baby mantids blend in well with their surroundings. When they first hatch the little mantids will crawl out of the egg case and hang on silk-like threads from the bottom of the case until they dry out. This takes about an hour, after which they disperse.

Tips & Warnings
In dry climates make sure to moisten the egg case once every other day with a spray water bottle. Make sure to use distilled water as tap water has chlorine in it that will kill the mantids. Do not use pesticides, fungicides, or herbicides in your garden once you've placed a mantis egg case; they are extremely vulnerable to these harmful chemicals. If you want to see them hatch and place them in a specific area of the garden, put the egg case in a brown paper bag with the top firmly closed. Staple it shut if you need to. Place the bag in a warm, humid place. In a few weeks you should here the little mantids rustling around inside the bag. But be warned, they will eat each other if no other source of food is immediately available. If your intention is to hatch them this way then make sure you also purchase a good supply of hatch-ling wingless fruit flies to place in the bag as well.
Praying mantis egg cases should not be kept indoors as you will have an infestation problem should they hatch unexpectedly.