DAVIE, Fla. – Whiteflies are back. The ficus-loving insects are damaging hedges and trees across South Florida.
But there may be a secret weapon in the fight to control them: ladybugs.
In the world of insects there's nothing ladylike about ladybugs. They don't just fight with other bugs for food, they eat them, and that's what makes the lucky beetles a secret winged weapon in the war on whiteflies.
"Ladybugs are voracious eaters. Each one will eat about 5,000 insects in their two-year life span," said Eric Friedli, manager at Flamingo Road Nursery in Davie, where customers typically reach for expensive chemicals to protect their hedges.
But tucked away in a small refrigerator up front, thousands of lady bugs are chomping at the bit to eradicate the whitefly.
"What ladybugs do is they crawl up from the bottom of the hedge, and from there they can see the whiteflies on the underside of the leaves, and then they just go get them," Friedli said.
He said these beneficial insects are typically used in vegetable gardens because they're environmentally friendly. There are no toxic chemicals to worry about.
But ladybugs can also be an economical solution to the whitefly problem. A small container with 1,500 of them inside costs $10, and they'll stay in a yard as long as the problem is there.
"But if they fly away, that means you don't have any insects," said Friedli.
Ladybugs are a little hard to find locally. Not too many nurseries carry them, but a quick search online will take customers to the website of a California company that ships them out in a refrigerated container.