The ladybugs are here, hurrah, hurrah…
Well, at least I think they are here… For sure, if I wanted them to be here they would be. During the exceptionally warm weekend, I happened to find one while the kids were playing and Nelya was watching them. I say, I think I found one because, though it certainly looks like it is a lady beetle, there are a number of beetles that look like the beneficial lady bug but are indeed not. This one I was unable to find in the literature, so I am assuming it is a lady bug specific to the Pacific Northwest, which is never covered in the literature I have. Perhaps some day after I have taken a lot more pictures I will create my own insect guide to the Pacific Northwest (or more likely just the Puget Sound), but that is the topic for a different conversation.
Here’s the first shot I got of it.
I managed to shoot a number of shots of it as it happily wandered around, searching I assume for small snack sized bugs. More shots if this little one after the jump.
I find myself kicking myself over this shot, because if the beetle were just a bit higher on the blade of grass this would have been a very nice shot. I really like the background in this shot - it looks almost like it was shot in a studio but this was a case where I did not transport the insect at all. Still, I rather like the shot, but I wish I would have gotten it just a moment before.
At our local Home Depot of all places they currently have for sale a bag of 1/3 of a cup (or approximately 1500 in case you never bothered to measure) live lady bugs for your garden. I tried to convince Nelya to let me buy one but she wants me to wait for the aphids to show up on the roses. Probably all the better for photography anyway - as then I can photograph an aphid snack-fest. The weather has also turned a bit cold and rainy again, so it’s not good weather to photograph. I am still trying to warm her up to buying some praying mantises, which for some reason she is terrified of. I guess the key term is “baby steps”. She’s gone far enough to let me eventually pick up some lady bugs and we now have an ant farm in the house, so eventually I’ll get some praying mantises.
Related posts:
- The bugs are back in town! Last weekend we had a nice warm spell and I found it fascinating how some of the usual suspects just popped out of nowhere. Sometimes I really wonder where many of these insects go when the weather is bad - as when it is cold and wet it is nearly...
- An invasion of midges As many of you who watch the news know, things have been a bit cold here recently. This has resulted in it being difficult to find interesting bugs to photograph. During the spring and summer, it sometimes seems like I am limited only by time and flash card memory. During...
- Something stinks here… One day, while talking with my father on the phone, a bright shiny bug entered the house and I passed right by it. Although I wasn’t into bugs then nearly as much as now, I was so excited that I immediately placed a cup over it to prevent it from...
- The hidden world out there As I mentioned yesterday, I took some time to photograph under one of my large camellia bushes, while the weather here is still cold. I walked around for awhile to see if I could find something on a leaf, but I had no luck. Therefore I decided to try the...
- The adventures of Alfred the aphid One day while photographing a lady bug laying havoc to a colony of aphids on a rose, I came across the bravest (or perhaps the smartest) aphid I have ever had the chance of meeting. While I tend not to name insects, I have decided to give this one the...
Tags: ladybug, macro, photography
For what it’s worth, I agree: A ladybug — and some nice shots of it too, including the ever-present “almost exactly what I wanted” shot.