Tag Archives: lady beetle

It’s a lady beetle-eat-lady beetle world…

Posted on May 22, 2010 by Butterfly Psyche

…still, it hardly seems fair for two active larvae to gang up on a prepupal larvae for breakfast. I gave them a lot more aphids and although that particular prepupa is never going to pupate, I hope the rest of … Continue reading →

Share
Posted in Insects, Lady beetles, Life Cycles | Tagged , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Buggy goodness!

Posted on May 20, 2010 by Butterfly Psyche

My catch of the day was a 6mm scymnine lady beetle larva, finally! I’ve never been able to raise scymnines – adults haven’t mated or laid eggs in captivity, the larvae I collected last summer all died within days – … Continue reading →

Share
Posted in Coccinellinae, Flies, Insects, Lady beetles, Life Cycles, Scymninae, Syrphids | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

The important things

Posted on May 14, 2010 by Butterfly Psyche

I managed to miss two buses due to nature sightings – one while I was collected a lady beetle larva, the other when I was trying to ID a warbler’s butt high above me in a tree. I didn’t get … Continue reading →

Share
Posted in Birds, Lady beetles, Warblers | Tagged , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Birds and bugs, oh my!

Posted on May 5, 2010 by Butterfly Psyche

I had a GREAT bird and bug commute. Since I left the house an hour early, I spent an hour strolling in Old City, where a single tree had 7, count ‘em, 7 species of warbler, including the very rare … Continue reading →

Share
Posted in Aphids, Birds, Butterflies and Moths, Insects, Lady beetles, Plants, Warblers | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

The wonders of milkweed

Posted on April 30, 2010 by Butterfly Psyche

My happy moment of the day was seeing a big patch of 3-foot-tall milkweed – that means two things, a) monarch butterflies and b) lady beetles eating oleander aphids. Didn’t see oleander aphids, actually, but where there is milkweed there … Continue reading →

Share
Posted in Aphids, Butterflies and Moths, Insects, Lady beetles, Milkweed, Plants | Tagged , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

She’s a lady!

Posted on April 19, 2010 by Butterfly Psyche

Thrill of the day: my 7-spotted lady beetle laid eggs in her container! (So she is really a lady ladybug.) I’ll release her later today, in case she gets any ideas about eating the eggs. I hope they’re fertilized and … Continue reading →

Share
Posted in Coccinellinae, Lady beetles, Life Cycles | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Lady beetle #3

Posted on April 16, 2010 by Butterfly Psyche

This one is a Seven-Spotted Lady Beetle, Coccinella septempunctata. It was on the office door when I arrived at work this morning – I captured it and now it’s munching on colorful aphids on my desk. I’ve only seen the … Continue reading →

Share
Posted in Coccinellinae, Insects, Lady beetles | Tagged , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

And the Coccinella paper pays off!

Posted on April 1, 2010 by Butterfly Psyche

Thanks to this paper, I’ve been able to ID a new species for BugGuide based solely on a larval image! At least two Coccinella difficilis are surrounding a single Coccinella septempunctata in this photo:

Share
Posted in Bug Links, Coccinellinae, Insects, Lady beetles | Tagged , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Coccinella larvae, you are mine!

Posted on April 1, 2010 by Butterfly Psyche

Well, actually, Gordon and Vandenberg’s “Larval Systematics of North American Coccinella” is mine…I’m thrilled! It utterly made my day, especially because it came from Natalia Vandenberg via only one degree of separation. She’s one of my heroes – an entomologist … Continue reading →

Share
Posted in Coccinellinae, Lady beetles | Tagged , , , , , , , | Leave a comment