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Ladybug climbs golden milkweed leaf hunting yellow aphids |
Ladybugs or Lady Beetles can be a gardener’s best friend,
especially if there are an abundance of soft bodied insects in residence.
Aphids, white flies, scale, and mites all love to attack garden plants, sucking
the life right out them. Ladybugs will hunt these plant pests down and gobble
them up like a human eating a chocolate candy. Yum, yum, yum.
climbing
tallest stems
searching
for soft body meals
Ladybug
strikes gold
Now as shown in this photo, the lady bug that showed up
on my golden milkweed plant was all red. The most common one to most of us is
the red lady beetle with black spots. Now this lady bug didn’t lose its spots
gambling, or due to age – it was just another variety.
It turns out there are about 500 different varieties of
lady bugs just in the U.S.A. If you talk about the world there are almost 5,000
known varieties scattered across mother earth. With this many varieties you get
a rainbow of colors. They can be colored orange, yellow, black, brown, white
and even pink with or without the spots.
voracious
eater
devours
pests, protects garden
beetle
armada
Ladybugs (Amazon link) are also known as lady beetles. Well they are
definitely beetles and almost all are beneficial to the garden. So if you see
some hanging around your plants re-consider using that insecticide and give
them a chance to take care of your infestation. They will hunt down the pests
and gobble them up as quickly as they can. Watch out for their larva as they
also will join in the feasting and bring the pests down to a less harmful level.
So what are male ladybugs called? Can they be called sir
bugs, lordly bugs, or how about king beetles? Nope, they are also called
ladybugs or lady beetles. Talk about a blow to the male ego. Then again they
only care about two things: food and procreation.
Ladybug
visits
Golden
milkweed plant
Aphids
shake in dread
Procreation (or species survival) depends on two ladybugs
of the right sex – one male and one female – meeting up and having beetle sex.
The male climbs onto the female’s back, and holds her wings closed so she can’t
fly away then mates with her. Afterwards they separate, each of them hunting
for their survival and needs. He’s looking for food and another female to mate
with. She is looking for food and a good place to lay her eggs.
Infested
milkweed
perfect
ladybug larder
yellow
aphid meals
The female will lay her eggs
on the plant, in this case golden milkweed (article link) I planted for Monarch
butterflies, then go on about her business – hunting and eating from the
abundant yellow aphids. When her eggs hatch the larva will join the hunt,
gorging themselves on the aphids. Eventually they enter metamorphosis and become
Ladybugs which can fly to search for better hunting grounds and mates.
If you enjoyed this mixture of haiku, and writing – with
a few facts about the Ladybugs thrown in leave a comment and share it forward.
Thanks,
Angelo