Sage Szkabarnicki-Stuart, Hypodamia convergens, 2020
Sometimes a species that is introduced to help the environment ends up hurting it. North America has over 450 native species of ladybug, all of which are being out-competed by the Asian Lady Beetle. Asian Lady Beetles look very similar to ladybugs, but they are much more effective at consuming crop pests like aphids and they reproduce much faster, as well as being more resistant to cold weather. Asian lady beetles were introduced in the 1970s by farmers who wanted an effective natural alternative to pesticides and the species quickly out-competed endemic ladybug species, leading to massive declines in all populations of endemic ladybugs. The majority of ladybugs in North America now are Asian Lady Beetles. Because ladybugs eat certain kinds of pollen as food in addition to aphids and other soft bodied insects, the presence of dandelions can attract more ladybugs to your garden.