Aphids are the single best food for most ladybug larvae, but you can successfully raise them on a surprisingly wide range of alternatives when live aphids are scarce. The trick is understanding that not all aphids are equal, that larvae have different nutritional needs at different stages, and that some common substitutes work well while others will quietly starve or even poison your brood. Raising ladybug larvae is straightforward once you know what actually fuels their growth and what to avoid.
Aphids Are the Gold Standard, but Not All Aphids Are Safe
If you can supply a steady stream of soft-bodied aphids, your larvae will thrive. Green peach aphids, pea aphids, and soybean aphids are among the most commonly used prey in both research settings and home rearing, and larvae fed these species develop quickly with high survival rates. In one study, a ladybug species fed green peach aphids reached adulthood in about 18 days with over 95% survival from egg to adult.1Scientific Reports. Suitability of spider mites and green peach aphids as prey for Eriopis connexa (Germar) (Coleoptera: Coccinellidae) Pea aphids are another reliable choice and are commonly used as the benchmark “control” diet in feeding experiments.
The danger lies in assuming any aphid you find outside will do. Certain aphid species are toxic to ladybug larvae because they absorb defensive chemicals from their host plants. Larvae of the Asian lady beetle fed aphids from elder plants suffered significantly higher mortality and grew more slowly than those fed potato aphids, because the elder aphids had absorbed toxic substances from the plant.2Entomological Science. Toxicity of the aphid Aulacorthum magnoliae to the predator Harmonia axyridis (Coleoptera: Coccinellidae) and genetic variance in the assimilation of the toxic aphids in H. axyridis larvae Some strains of cowpea aphids are similarly problematic: larvae consumed them at a slower rate and often refused them entirely.3UKnowledge. Variable Consequences of Toxic Prey on Generalist Insect Predators The practical takeaway is to source aphids from plants you can identify and to avoid aphids feeding on plants known to produce alkaloids or other strong defensive compounds, like nightshades, elder, and certain legumes.
Spider Mites and Other Live Prey
When aphids are hard to come by, spider mites are a surprisingly decent alternative for some ladybug species. Two-spotted spider mites supported larval development with survival rates above 95% in at least one ladybug species, comparable to results with green peach aphids.1Scientific Reports. Suitability of spider mites and green peach aphids as prey for Eriopis connexa (Germar) (Coleoptera: Coccinellidae) However, not all spider mite species work. The red tomato spider mite was lethal in the same study: no larvae reached the pupal stage when fed exclusively on it. So “spider mites” is not a blanket recommendation. If you have access to two-spotted spider mites from infested houseplants or garden plants, they can fill a gap. Avoid red spider mites from tomato or other solanaceous plants.
Twelve-spotted lady beetles readily attacked and ate spider mites in lab trials, though their development and reproduction were still better on fly eggs than on mites alone.4PubMed. Is Tetranychus urticae suitable prey for development and reproduction of naïve Coleomegilla maculata? The pattern is consistent across studies: spider mites are an acceptable food, not an optimal one. They work best as part of a mixed diet rather than the sole food source.
Moth Eggs and Brine Shrimp Eggs
If you are raising ladybugs at any real scale, or simply cannot maintain a colony of live aphids, frozen or dried insect eggs are the most practical substitute. Eggs of the Mediterranean flour moth (Ephestia kuehniella) are widely used in insectaries and can be purchased from biological control suppliers. They keep well frozen and provide a concentrated source of protein and fat. Research on Asian lady beetles showed that larvae raised on frozen moth eggs developed successfully, though the interaction between food type and humidity was different from aphid-fed larvae. On moth eggs, higher humidity did not improve outcomes the way it did for aphid-fed larvae, so keep conditions moderate rather than very humid if you are using this food.5Psyche: A Journal of Entomology. Effect of Air Humidity on Sex Ratio and Development of Ladybird Harmonia axyridis (Coleoptera: Coccinellidae)
Brine shrimp eggs (Artemia franciscana) are another option, particularly for twelve-spotted lady beetles. An interesting finding from one study was that grinding whole brine shrimp eggs into a fine powder significantly boosted egg-laying in adult females compared to whole eggs, without harming larval survival, development time, or adult body weight.6PubMed Central. Does a Change from Whole to Powdered Food (Artemia franciscana eggs) Increase Oviposition in the Ladybird Coleomegilla maculata? If you plan to breed your ladybugs beyond the first generation, switching to powdered brine shrimp eggs for the adults may be worth trying. For larvae, the texture does not seem to matter much either way.
Pollen as a Supplement
Bee pollen is one of the most useful supplements you can add to a ladybug larval diet, especially when live prey is limited. Canola bee pollen mixed into the diet of Asian lady beetle larvae significantly improved survival from the fourth instar onward, and larvae fed a high-pollen diet developed into heavier adults with survival rates comparable to those fed live pea aphids.7Pest Management Science. Canola bee pollen is an effective artificial diet additive for improving larval development of predatory coccinellids: a lesson from Harmonia axyridis The pollen appeared to work by boosting lipid reserves in the adult body, which matters for overwintering survival and reproduction.
Pollen alone, however, is not enough. When a different ladybug species was raised on pollen as the sole food, very few larvae made it to adulthood, and development was dramatically slower than for larvae fed aphids or a pollen-plus-aphid combination.8PLOS ONE. Use of a Pollen-Based Diet to Expose the Ladybird Beetle Propylea japonica to Insecticidal Proteins The same study showed that combining pollen with soybean aphids produced survival rates above 90% and actually increased the total number of eggs females laid compared to an aphid-only diet. So pollen is a booster, not a replacement. Sprinkle bee pollen granules into the rearing container alongside whatever primary food you are providing, and your larvae should benefit.
Building an Artificial Diet from Scratch
Researchers have spent decades trying to formulate fully artificial diets that can replace live prey entirely. The results are mixed but improving. For the seven-spotted ladybug, one of the most common species worldwide, an optimized artificial diet containing roughly 22% shrimp, 5% pollen, 3% lard, and 10% honey (by weight) produced significantly better survival and pupation rates than a basic diet.9Biological Control. An improved artificial diet for larvae of the seven-spotted ladybird beetle Coccinella septempunctata L. These ratios come from systematic optimization experiments, and each ingredient plays a role: shrimp provides animal protein, pollen provides micronutrients and some lipids, lard adds caloric density, and honey serves as a carbohydrate source and phagostimulant (something that encourages the larvae to actually eat).
Soybean-based diets also show promise. For the seven-spotted ladybug, diets built around soybean flour produced growth and success rates nearly identical to aphid-fed controls, outperforming diets based on bee pollen, drone larvae, or even frozen aphids.10Journal of Asia-Pacific Entomology. Growth and development of ladybird beetle Coccinella septempunctata L. (Coleoptera: Coccinellidae), on plant and animal based protein diets That last result is surprising and counterintuitive: frozen aphids, the “natural” food preserved, performed worse than a soybean formula. Freezing and thawing likely degrades nutritional quality and palatability, which means that if you cannot offer live aphids, you may be better off with a well-formulated artificial paste than with frozen ones.
A separate trial adding shrimp, pollen, honey, and lard to a base diet improved adult reproductive output substantially but did not significantly improve larval performance, possibly because the lard content was too high for young larvae to digest efficiently.11Journal of Insect Science. Influence of artificial diets on biological characteristics and digestive enzymes of Coccinella septempunctata L. The lesson here is that fat content is a balancing act. A little lard shortens development time and boosts survival; too much may overwhelm larval digestion. If you are experimenting at home, err on the low side with fats and compensate with protein.
Preventing Cannibalism
Ladybug larvae are cannibalistic, and it becomes a serious problem when food is scarce or larvae are crowded together. In studies of multiple ladybug species, cannibalism increased sharply when food availability dropped, when larvae were different sizes, and when larval density was high.12Biological Control. Larval cannibalism in aphidophagous ladybirds: Influencing factors, benefits and costs Reduced food quality alone did not trigger as much cannibalism as reduced food quantity, which means that even offering a suboptimal diet is better than offering nothing between meals.
Size differences among larvae are a particularly strong driver. Larger larvae readily eat smaller ones, and this happens even when food is available if the size gap is big enough.13Ecological Entomology. A comparative study of larval cannibalism in three species of ladybird If you are raising larvae from multiple egg clutches that hatched at different times, separate them by size. Keep similar-aged larvae together, feed them frequently, and avoid overcrowding. Some species, like the Asian lady beetle, cannibalize siblings at lower rates than non-siblings, so keeping clutch mates together may offer a slight buffer. But the most reliable prevention is simply keeping food abundant and size variation low.
What Happens When Larvae Are Underfed
Larvae that experience food restriction early in life can partially compensate later if you restore full feeding, but the recovery comes at a hidden cost. In the mealybug destroyer (Cryptolaemus montrouzieri, a ladybug used in biological control), larvae that were starved early and then given plenty of food caught up in size and development time, reaching a similar adult body mass as well-fed larvae. But those compensatory-growth adults showed physiological trade-offs that affected their fitness.14PubMed. Physiological effects of compensatory growth during the larval stage of the ladybird, Cryptolaemus montrouzieri In practical terms, this means a brief gap in food supply is not necessarily fatal, but consistently underfed larvae will produce less robust adults even if they survive.
Diet quality during the larval stage also shapes adult reproductive success. Larvae raised on suboptimal prey species tend to develop into smaller adults with lower fat reserves, which reduces the number of eggs females can lay and the viability of those eggs.15Bulletin of Insectology. Prey preference of ladybird larvae and its impact on larval mortality, some life-history traits of adults and female fitness If your goal is to release ladybugs for pest control or to breed them through multiple generations, larval nutrition matters beyond just keeping them alive.
Not All Ladybugs Eat Insects
Most of the feeding advice above applies to the aphid-eating species that people typically raise, such as the seven-spotted ladybug, Asian lady beetle, and convergent lady beetle. But the ladybug family is enormous, and some species have radically different diets. Genomic analysis of the ladybug family tree shows that their ancestors were fungus-eaters, and dietary shifts to carnivory (eating other insects) and herbivory (eating plants) happened independently multiple times, each leaving distinct genetic signatures in the form of gained or lost digestive enzymes.16PubMed Central. Molecular evolution of dietary shifts in ladybird beetles (Coleoptera: Coccinellidae): from fungivory to carnivory and herbivory
This matters practically if you are trying to raise a species you have collected from the wild without knowing exactly what it is. The orange ladybugs you find on squash leaves may be squash beetles in the subfamily Epilachninae, which are herbivores. Tiny black ladybugs found on mildew-covered leaves may be mycophagous (fungus-eating) species. A recently studied fungus-eating ladybug, Macroilleis hauseri, was successfully mass-reared on a combination of powdery mildew and an artificial diet made from glucose, fructose, soybean powder, and silkworm pupa powder.17Pest Management Science. Mycophagous ladybirds of Macroilleis hauseri: mass-rearing artificial diet development, fungicide-insecticide toxicity assessment and release in orchard of Rosa roxburghii to control powdery mildew Feeding aphids to a fungus-eating species will not work. Before you start rearing, identify your species and confirm its dietary guild.
A Disease Risk You Might Not Expect
If you are collecting ladybug eggs or larvae from the wild, or purchasing mixed species, be aware that some ladybug species carry parasites that are harmless to them but lethal to others. The Asian lady beetle harbors spores of a microsporidian parasite closely related to Nosema thompsoni that does not harm its carrier but kills native seven-spotted ladybugs.18PubMed. Invasive harlequin ladybird carries biological weapons against native competitors The infection route in the wild involves intraguild predation, where native species feed on contaminated Asian lady beetle eggs or larvae. In a rearing container, this means mixing species is risky. If an Asian lady beetle larva dies and a seven-spotted ladybug larva scavenges the body, the native larva can pick up a fatal infection. Keep species separate, and if you are raising native species, avoid introducing wild-caught Asian lady beetles into the same environment.
Practical Feeding Schedule and Tips
Ladybug larvae are voracious and eat throughout their roughly two-to-three-week larval period, consuming more as they grow. A single late-instar larva can eat dozens of aphids per day. Here are some guidelines that synthesize the research findings into a practical routine:
- First and second instar: Offer small, soft-bodied aphids or finely crushed moth eggs. Very young larvae have small mouthparts and may struggle with larger prey. Sprinkle a thin layer of bee pollen nearby as a supplement.
- Third and fourth instar: Increase food volume substantially. Larger larvae can handle bigger aphids and whole moth eggs. This is when food shortages most quickly trigger cannibalism, so feed generously.
- Moisture: Provide a lightly dampened cotton ball or sponge for humidity, but do not soak the container. Excessive moisture encourages mold on uneaten food.
- Cleaning: Remove uneaten food and frass daily. Decaying food attracts mites and fungal growth that can sicken or kill larvae.
- Separation: If you notice significant size differences among larvae, separate the larger ones. A fourth-instar larva will eat a first-instar sibling without hesitation.
For the artificial diet approach, mix ingredients into a thick paste and offer it on small pieces of wax paper or parafilm inside the container. Replace the paste daily, as it dries out and becomes unappealing. The shrimp-pollen-honey-lard formula described earlier can be prepared in bulk and frozen in small portions, thawing a day’s worth at a time. Whether you use live aphids, moth eggs, or an artificial paste, consistency matters more than perfection. Larvae that are fed reliably every day, even on a slightly suboptimal diet, will outperform those fed an ideal food on an erratic schedule.
Sugars and Honeydew Substitutes
In the wild, ladybug larvae encounter honeydew, the sugary excretion left behind by aphids, and they lick it up. You can mimic this with dilute honey or sugar water, though the role of sugar is more about energy supplementation than nutrition. Research on Asian lady beetles tested artificial diets with different sugar compositions and found that diets containing certain sugars increased fatty acid content and ATP levels in adults compared to sugar-free diets.19Frontiers in Physiology. The Effect of Different Dietary Sugars on the Development and Fecundity of Harmonia axyridis In practical terms, a thin streak of dilute honey on the inside wall of the container gives larvae an accessible energy source between meals and may improve the fat reserves they carry into adulthood. Do not overdo it: thick honey can trap and suffocate small larvae. A 10-20% honey-water solution dabbed onto a cotton wick is safer.
Some rearers use raisins or sliced fruit as a moisture and sugar source. These work as a stopgap, but they mold quickly in warm, enclosed containers and do not provide the protein larvae need to grow. Treat them as a brief emergency supplement, not a real food. The larvae will nibble, but they will not develop properly without animal protein from aphids, eggs, or an artificial protein-based diet.