Posts Tagged: Coccinellidae
Becoming a Lady Beetle, aka Ladybug, on Labor Day
If you're an entomologist, an agriculturist, a gardener or an insect enthusiast, you've probably...
Welcome to the world! A lady beetle, aka ladybug, emerges from its pupal case. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
The lady beetle, aka ladybug, heads up the leaf, leaving its pupal case behind. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
A newly emerged lady beetle, aka ladybug, peers at the photographer. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Hey, I'm Eating as Fast as I Can!
Have you ever seen the larva of a lady beetle (aka ladybug) dining on an aphid? Lights! Camera!...
An immature lady beetle (larvae) chowing down on an oleander aphid. This photo was taken on a milkweed plant in Vacaville, Calif. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
A well-fed adult lady beetle (aka ladybug) ignores a fat Oleander aphid. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
The Incredible Aphid-Eating Machines
Just call them the "incredible aphid-eating machines." That would be the lady beetles, commonly...
Lady beetle larva dining on aphids on milkweed, UC Davis campus. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
A lady beetle, aka ladybug, tracks down more prey. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Ladybugs are Back in Force
It's that time of year for a riot of aphids on new growth cheeseweed (malva) and wild radish and with that food source to see ladybird beetles go to town, chowing down. There's ladybugs in both their larval and adult stages doing the feeding. Some of the larvae look like mealybugs which is a food source that they mimic and also feed on. The mealybug destroyers was introduced from Australia at the turn of the 20th century to fight citrus mealybug and when there is no disruption, they are effective at keeping the population down. Another mealybug mimic is the dusky ladybird which also feeds on scales, aphids and mealy bugs. These are generalist predators, even cannibalizing their own, when other food sources are not present. The dusky has not been common in the Ventura area, but recently, PCA Jane Delahoyde spotted one. As our weather changes, we are bound to see other insects and invertebrates move into the area.
Check out this University of Florida ladybug website:
http://entnemdept.ufl.edu/creatures/beneficial/lady_beetles.htm
Mealybug-like larval stage surrounded by aphid food (above) and adult (below)
scymnus larvae
scymnus adult
Luck Be a Lady (Beetle)
Overhead in the lady's restroom of a restaurant at the Sausalito marina: Mother to daughter:...
A lady beetle, newly rescued from the bathroom of a restaurant in Marin County, crawls on an Iceland poppy in a Solano County bee garden. Freedom! (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Which way is up? Which way is down? A rescued lady beetle exploring its surroundings. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)