Live Insects From Amazon.com
A list of live insects you can buy from Amazon.com. It certainly might come as a surprise to a few that you can buy live insects from the online retailing giant, but in practice they can actually be useful for gardeners. As part of this list it is my practice not to include any insects available for purchase that did not at least get 3.5 stars from Amazon.
Praying Mantis
You can buy praying mantis egg cases for a fairly low price of $7 for two. Each of these cases apparently has 50 to 200 praying mantises within it which eventually hatch. From a practical standpoint they eat pests such as aphids, mites and moths but from a more casual perspective they are just so cool. They actually make a very good gift for children that are into insects and given the price, why not?
You have to place them in the sunlight and wait for them to hatch though, which might take quite a while. Apparently up to eight weeks.
Pests they prey on:
- Aphids
- Black Fly Larvae
- Scale Insects
- Mosquitos
Lady Bugs
Lady Bugs are prized for their beautiful appearance and also for their tendency to kill aphids. However, once more, they make great gifts for children and little girls in particular tend to like them. You get about 300 of them for about $6 which is a nice price really. They are live and ready to go the moment you open the packet, though they are meant to be released at dusk after watering.
Pests they prey on:
- Aphids
- Green Peach Aphid
- Bollworms
- Colorado Potato Beetle
- Leafhoppers
- Mealy Bugs
- Thrips
Delphastus
The Delphastus is actually a lady beetle but it is noteworthy for preying specifically on Whitefly. Its not as pretty or interesting as the mantis or more generic lady bettle, but is useful.
Pests they prey on:
- Whitefly
Dubia Roach
These roaches are really meant to be for reptiles to eat and are apparently a particularly good source of protein. It is basically a form of cockroach, but sort of on the larger side and cannot fly which is a great feature if you want to feed things as having them flying out of the bucket would of course be bad.
Live Crickets
Once again for feeding reptiles like lizards, these can sort of also be amusing as pets or to watch. Kids naturally like them, but keep in mind that for $25 you get a 1000 of them! They are not so small, either!
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