We have been seeing lots of ladybugs here in Texas. Last week, we were with some kids and one girl caught 8 ladybugs! And, I was excited to see some larval ladybugs crossing the sidewalk! I found 2 last week and 2 this week.
I was saving this post until I could get a photo of a larval ladybug, but I still haven't got one. So, I decided to go ahead and post. On Saturday, we found the above ladybug - it was getting ready to pupate! It is secreting some kind of yellow goo and it was attached to the side of our pool. (I just read and this is actually called a pre-pupa since it is starting to change!) (Oh, and I hope you can see the spikes on this ladybug - very cool! Usually when I crop, I can't enlarge it on my computer-but you might give it a try!)
This is what the pupa looks like now. I haven't been able to find out how many days he will stay a pupa, but we're checking him several times a day. He is supposed to stay as a pupa for about 7 days, so we'll have to keep a good eye on him on Saturday! Usually, they won't have spots when they emerge, so if you find a spotless ladybug, you might have a newly emerged one! It takes about 24 hours for them to get their spots. (I haven't been able to get a great photo, because I'd really need to get IN the pool - and it is just too cold for me.)
As someone mentioned at this site , the pupa wiggles (or does pushups) every once in awhile. I'm not sure why! And, here are some great photos of each stage of the ladybug's life cycle.
We found this ladybug near our pupa today and at first I thought he "was" our ladybug.... but, he wasn't.
We found this ladybug near our pupa today and at first I thought he "was" our ladybug.... but, he wasn't.
And, I just LOVED this shot of another yellow ladybug we found today. He's on our lawn chair. If you enlarge it, he looks really neat, too!
Hopefully, I'll have a new post to share with you this weekend about our new ladybug! And, I'll take my camera with me next week and I hope to take some photos of ladybug larva!!!
How cool, a yellow one! Glad you posted. I've never seen a yellow one in person.
ReplyDeleteBy the way, too bad we missed each other at the zoo.
Great pictures! I never would have recognized a lady bug in the pupal stages - so glad you shared. Cool to see the yellow one, too.
ReplyDeleteAwesome pictures! To answer your ?? regarding our choice of languages:
ReplyDeleteWhen we first started homeschooling, Sweetie said she wanted to learn to speak Chinese. I don't know why - but she is passionate about China. We thereby went with Mandarin as it is more widely spoken than Cantonese. We were fortunate to come across a class for 4-6 year olds that started this past fall. She loves it and we're all learning along side her.
It would have been easier had she picked Spanish (I'm fluent). As it is, I try to immerse the kiddos in Spanish a few hrs a week.
These are amazing photos as always. I enjoyed seeing the yellow one also. Some of the photos would enlarge for me, but some would not. :0( Thank you for sharing the info links with us. This was a very interesting post. :0)
ReplyDeleteCool pictures!
ReplyDeleteWow! I didn't know there were yellow ladybugs. When I first saw your picture, I thought it was a Mexican bean beetle. I'd never seen one of those before I got married and moved South and at first I thought THEY were yellow lady bugs. I thought they were eating whatever was making holes in my bean leaves. LOL! Needless t say, I didn't get many beans that year.
Very cool!
ReplyDeleteIt's a little early here for ladybugs. But I can't wait to get out in the yard and start exploring again. Who knows what we'll find this year?
Btw, my word verification this time is 'acorn'. Isn't that funny? Kind of goes with the post in a nice, naturly way.