THE BUG LADY
Frequently Asked Questions
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If you're looking for smaller ladybug and nematode orders, check our contact us page to see if there's a garden centre nearby that you may be able to purchase from. For other products, to order directly from us, our deadlines are Friday at 2:00 for shipping Monday, and Tuesday at 2:00 for shipping Wednesday (PST), by which time we'd need all your shipping info and payment, whether it be credit card or E-transfer.
We prefer to be in touch directly with you to make sure that our products are right for you before we confirm your order! Feel free to contact us via E-mail, contact form, or phone.
No, we do not ship via Canada Post. We ship all our products via courier, typically Purolator. We do this because our products are shipped live in cooled boxes, and typically should arrive in under 3 days. Feel free to contact us with any concerns about delays.
We ship all across Canada. The only exceptions would be a place where service under 4 days is not possible. Even in that case, there may be a pickup location within driving distance you can travel to; please contact us if this is something you are worried about.
Shipping cost is very dependent upon your location. You'll have to contact us directly with your postal code in order to get a quote, but the minimum cost is $21.00 plus the product cost. If you are in a rural area, we typically recommend you pick up your parcel at the closest Purolator Hold for Pickup Location to ensure that the courier driver knows where to go.
BC Lower Mainland: $21.00-$24.00 overnight
Northern BC: $30.00-$37.00 two-day service
Calgary and Edmonton: $36.00-$43.00 overnight
Winnipeg, Regina, and Saskatoon: $45.00- $51.00 overnight or two-day
Rural AB, SK, and MB: Upwards of $40.00, two-day service.
Toronto, Windsor, Ottawa, and Montreal: $51.00-$56.00 overnight
Rural ON and QC: Upwards of $50.00, two-day service
NL, NS, NB, and PE: Upwards of $57.00, service dependent on your town
Northern Canadian Territories: Upwards of $52.00, or shipped collect. Please contact us for courier options.
We have to use the quickest shipping method possible because we are dealing with a live product. Unfortunately, that does mean that shipping to the east coast especially is often more expensive than we'd like, but we have no other option if the bugs are to survive the trip across Canada.
Yes. Typical service all around Canada takes 1-2 days. And we ship our bugs in cooled styrofoam boxes with ice and gel packs to ensure that the bugs are a) not overheated and b) not moving freely around the box. Most of our products, except for our ladybugs and nematodes, should be used as soon as possible after receiving them to ensure they are getting food right away.
Shipping time depends on where you are located. We ship out on Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday, and will sometimes make exceptions for local deliveries to ship on Thursday. However, we bring in most products to ship out on Mondays and Wednesdays. If you order before Friday at 2:00 PST, we can ship out to you on the following Monday; if you order before Tuesday at 2:00 PST, we will ship out to you on the Wednesday (providing you are in a location that receives overnight or two-day service.)
West Coast orders and larger cities such as Edmonton, Calgary, Montreal, Toronto, and Ottawa typically receive overnight service. If you live in a rural area, shipping may take two or three days.
We accept MasterCard, Visa (not American Express), and E-transfer.
If you are looking to set up a wholesale account with us, please contact us directly.
Your order will contain the products you purchased, along with wrapped ice packs and thawed packs. When you receive your order, there will be wrapped ice packs and gel thawed packs. These are purposely put with the order to help moderate the temperature levels within the styrofoam box.
You may have heard anecdotally from other sources that ladybugs are a good spider mite control; however, ladybugs do not feed primarily on spider mites. We don’t actively recommend them for spider mite control because if there are other food sources available, they will ignore the spider mites and move on.
Stethorus beetle, one of the bugs we do advertise for spider mite control, is actually a relative of ladybugs, and is what should be recommended instead of ladybugs. They are a far more effective spider mite predator than ladybugs specifically.
We recommend using a combination of three products: persimilis, fallacis, and stethorus. You can read more about those products here.
It depends on where your crop is at, as well as how far along the infestation is.
Persimilis will actually travel into webbing to feed on spider mites, so if your infestation is bad, persimilis are a must. If you are having trouble meeting the humidity requirement for persimilis (a constant humidity of at least 60% is required when persimilis are present as their eggs will dry out in anything less), you may want to consider using the ladybugs' relative stethorus. While it is more expensive, they are more hardy and excellent at seeking spider mites. If you can get both, do it.
Fallacis is a great preventative mite, as they feed on more than just spider mites, while persimilis and stethorus will die off without the spider mites present. Fallacis can survive on pollen, and will also feed on bamboo mites, spruce spider mite, and more. If you are worried about a possible spider mite infestation, or are starting a new room, fallacis are a great idea as they will stick around for the life of the crop. They are also great to introduce alongside persimilis and stethorus, and will not compete with them.
The most particular mite that we sell is the persimilis; This mite does require a humidity of at least 60% because without it, the eggs will dry out and the second generation of mites will not survive. Fallacis and stethorus are more hardy.
As a general rule with all our products, you want to be very careful with introducing beneficial bugs if you have any sort of pesticide, soap, or essential oils history. Most (if not all) pesticides are incompatible with our bugs. If you've recently applied a commercial soap or oil product (like Neem Oil), we recommend waiting at least a week before introducing any beneficial bugs.
The best way to see the mites is: Upon receiving them, pour a small amount of the mite carrier onto a white piece of paper and look for movement with the naked eye or a light magnifier. Another way to see the mites is to open the bottle and look on the rim and paper filter on the lid, where it should be easier to see them. Persimilis are a bit easier to spot on the plant themselves due to their orange-y colour.
If you want to try californicus, we can sell it to you. But, as opposed to the products produced by Applied Bio-nomics, these are produced overseas and likely have been refrigerated rather than produced fresh to ship to you. As well, calfornicus will feed on persimilis mites, and therefore is not compatible with our usual recommended spider mite strategy.
Fallacis is shipped with food in the container, so it can be stored for up to 1 week upon receiving; However, we do recommend releasing it sooner than later. If you are not releasing Fallacis right away, store it 10 degrees celsius.
Persimilis is shipped with no food in the container, so we recommend realesing it right away, once you have recieved your order.
Anystis is already being used for both generalist preventative applications against pests as diverse as whitefly, red mites, and psyllids and to wipe out (or prevent) known pests like thrips, aphids and spider mites.
Application rates are variable. 1 mite per square foot may be appropriate for both preventative and knockdown depending on environment, plants and prey. Generally, as a starting point, it is recommended that 0.25 mites be applied per square foot for prevention and 2 mite per square foot or more for corrective rates. However, contacting us directly will help us work with you to determine more individually-catered rates of application, tailored to your growing area.
Anystis does not have a long shelf life. Upon recieving your order, we reccomend putting the product out within 3-4 days. Anystis is shipped with food in the bottle.
Since Anystis is a generalist it will stick around for a long time as they will find a variety of pests to feed on. If there is not a hot spot they will spread out, going to other plants to find a food source.
We recommend using Anystis alongside another product. For example if you are treating Aphids we would recommend using Aphidoletes and Anystis together, as it will be more proactive fighting against the pest, helping to get the numbers under control faster.
Aphid control is best achieved with preventative applications of Crazee Mites as needed, and regular preventative releases of Aphidoletes every three weeks during peak aphid season.
Spider mite control is best with Neoseiulus fallacis introduced preventatively at a rate of 2 mites per square foot, followed by a Crazee Mite Application of 0.25 mites per square foot.
Thrips Control is best achieved with an introductory rate of Crazee Mites (0.25 mites per square foot) and reapplied as needed, with regular releases of Neoseiulus cucumeris every 4-5 weeks or as needed.
Anystis lifecycle is relatively long. Eggs hatch into larval stages and then three nymph stages before reaching adult hood 3-4 weeks later. All stages are predatory and all mites are female. Eggs will be laid by adults for three weeks. They are typically laid in loose growing media and in small clusters of 15-30 eggs, several times during the adult stage.
All mites are female and all mobile stages of Anystis baccarum are predatory. The adults will immediately begin laying eggs and are capable of eating hundreds of prey daily. Eggs are laid in leaf-litter or loose, consistently humid growing media, making cycling possible in most crops. Some others may require regular reapplications.
When applying Anystis you want to be mindful to not disturb the product too much, as they can be fragile when in pupal stage. You want to set the container in a central spot of an infestation, or if treating a hot spot, place the container directly close to the problem. If you are splitting the product between two places, place half of the product in a dixie cup and let the Anystis come out of the cup as it is ready.
Due to the potential large size of mature female mantids, they have occasionally been observed eating small vertebrates in the United States, (small reptiles, amphibians and rarely, even hummingbirds) but these are rare occurrences that do not have a significant impact on the populations of those species. The hunting activities of domestic cats and dogs, disturbed habitats, and/or climate change each individually have much larger impacts on the populations of these species.
Because we are selling these in the summer they will never get to their full size as adults and get to the point where they are a worry for small vertebrates. And with our shorter growing season and earlier frosts they do not have enough time to grow large enough to mature, mate and lay eggs. They are not a threat, in Canada, to our one native species that occurs here, (which lives in the Okanagan region of BC), which does manage to mature and lay eggs in overwintering ootheca (egg cases).
The mantids are just another tool for gardeners to use to keep down numbers of pests (especially aphids) that proliferate over summer and then fade out as autumn approaches. They offer another choice instead of having to look to insecticides for pest control. I love how the Buckerfields’ advertisement has ladybugs and mantids displayed prominently on page 2 of its flyer – one must flip past these to get to the chemical choices.”
Each praying mantis egg case can produce 50-200 juvenile mantids, and can take 2-6 weeks to hatch.
Praying Mantis feed on aphids, beetles, caterpillars, chinch bugs, Colorado potato beetles, leafhoppers, hornworms, leafrollers, squash bugs, thrips and whiteflies. They start off feeding on fruit flies and other tiny insects and as they grow so does their prey.
Egg cases be attached to a plant about a foot or two off the ground. Once hatching commences, all praying mantis will hatch within about one hour. When hatching, the young crawl from between tiny flaps in the cases and hang from silken threads about 2" below the case. After drying out, the long-legged young disperse quickly into the vegetation as they are cannibalistic. It's very difficult to know hatching has occurred unless the elusive, well camouflaged young are found. (The egg case does not change appearance in any way).