- Author: Kathy Keatley Garvey
There's a good reason why lady beetles, aka ladybugs, are prevalent this time of year: aphids.
Ladybugs, from the family Coccinellidae, are actually beetles with voracious appetites for those soft-bodied insects that suck plant juices.
Wherever there are aphids, you'll usually see ladybugs. It may take awhile for the ladybugs to find them, but find them they will.
- Author: Kathy Keatley Garvey
The overwintering ladybugs tucked in the leaves of our tangerine tree are gone.
Sunny temperatures hit 75 degrees, and off they went. Guess they thought it was spring.
Anyhow, they made a glorious sight as emerged from the folds of a tangerine leaf. One perched on the top of a tangerine tree and then crawled up and down the leaf.
Natalia Vandenberg, a USDA employee with the Systematic Entomology Lab, Smithsonian's National Museum of Natural History, identified these as an introduced species, Coccinella septempunctata.
Ladybugs in February...
- Author: Kathy Keatley Garvey
If there's anything better than one ladybug, it's two ladybugs.
And if there's anything better than two ladybugs, it's a cluster of ladybugs.
Our bee friendly garden is devoid of bees, but about 12 ladybugs are overwintering near the house. Some are in the artemsia bush, and others are in the folds of tangerine leaves.
Like postal carriers, they're weathering the driving rain, the bitter cold and the harsh winds. At times it seems like they're puppies cuddling to stay warm.
Ladybugs, aka ladybird beetles, aka lady beetles (family Coccinellidae) are beneficial bugs. They're predators and rid the garden of aphids, scale insects, mites, mealybugs and other soft-bodied insects.
Soon, as spring approaches, they'll do just that.
- Author: Kathy Keatley Garvey
Red ornaments on a Christmas tree?
No, ladybugs (aka ladybird beetles or lady beetles) on Artemisia.
Ladybugs are overwintering on our Artemisia (genus belonging to the daisy family, Asteracease).
When the rains come, the drops bubble up on the plants and the ladybugs alike.
It's Christmas Eve and the ladybugs are Nature's sparkling red ornaments, providing comfort, cheer and color to the holiday season.
Merry Christmas, everyone!
- Author: Kathy Keatley Garvey
Ladybugs, aka ladybeetles (family Coccinellidae), are best known for devouring aphids, those pesky little critters that suck plant juices.
But have you ever seen ladybugs gobbling ants?
There's a three-way predator-prey relationship here. When aphids pierce plant stems, they leave behind honeydew excretions. Ants scurry to the honeydew and quickly alert their buddies. Soon, you'll see a long trail of ants marching toward the honeydew.
Now enter the ladybug, which is attracted--quite nicely, thank you--to both aphids and ants.
This little beetle will feast on aphids and ants much like we humans chow down on popcorn and jelly beans at a movie.
In the photos below, unsuspecting ants climbed a lavender stalk, only to meet their demise.
If you look on You Tube, you'll see a video of an apparently famished ladybug chowing down ants. The background music of Queen's "We Will Rock You" adds the finishing touch.
Want to learn more about ants? Check out professor Phil Ward's website. He's a noted myrmecologist (one who studies the taxonomy, evolution, biogeography and behavior of ants) and a professor of entomology at the University of California, Davis.
One of his former graduate students, Alex Wild, has incredible insect photography on his website, appropriately named myrmecos.net.