Although some species hibernate alone or in small groups, others gather in clumps of hundreds or thousands, tending to seek the same sites year after year. Collectors in California have found colonies containing as many as 500 gallons of beetles, each gallon containing 72,000 to 80,000 beetles. It is unclear how long most species live but the multicolored Asian lady beetle can live up to three years. Habits Lady beetles can fly, but slowly. This gives the beetle the means to search for new sources of food.
Ants are the bane of lady beetles.
When a lady beetle approaches, the ant bites the beetle until it retreats in search of less obnoxious prey. Diet Lady beetles feed on a number of soft-bodied insects, including scales, mealybugs and spider mites, as well as insect eggs and small larvae, but most species love aphids. Depending on the species, a larva consumes 200 to 500 aphids during its development to pupal stage, and an adult consumes 300 to 400 per month. An adult will consume as much as 5,000 aphids in its lifetime. Some species also eat pollen and fungal spores.