The Ladybugs Are Coming, Hooraw, Hooraw!
May 6, 2013 15:26:56 #
This is the first ladybug egg cluster I've seen this year. The eggs are about 1.5-mm long and in a couple of weeks they'll be aphid munching pretties.
D3100, Reversed 50mm + 36mm extension, f16, 2 sec in shade, ISO100, cropped
The bad news is, where you have lots of ladybugs, they have lots of aphids to lunch on, which are lunching on my poor little cherry tree. (Black Aphid in upper right.)
May 6, 2013 15:30:42 #
Farview
Loc: PA
Thx for the picture lesson on Ladybugs. Where do they come from?
Do they spread from west to east? So it might take them a few days, weeks to get to east coast?
Do they spread from west to east? So it might take them a few days, weeks to get to east coast?
May 6, 2013 15:34:18 #
Questions I can't answer, Farview, sorry. All I know is that in about a week they'll be fascinating alligator looking larvae who will eat a few hundred aphids before they pupate into real ladybugs.
May 6, 2013 15:37:08 #
OddJobber wrote:
I saw my first two on a rose bush in NW Portland. What is the host plant? One of your cherry trees?Questions I can't answer, Farview, sorry. All I know is that in about a week they'll be fascinating alligator looking larvae who will eat a few hundred aphids before they pupate into real ladybugs.
May 6, 2013 15:44:06 #
Yup. A dying cherry tree. ;)
EDIT: BTW, I saw your ladybugs. Really good!
EDIT: BTW, I saw your ladybugs. Really good!
May 6, 2013 15:47:58 #
OddJobber wrote:
Thanks. I would really like to find eggs and some larva. The larva stay longer and my roses are being eaten alive with aphids. I've also posted a few of those-- some taken with a 5x microscope objective mounted on an extension tube. Very hard to "focus".Yup. A dying cherry tree. ;) BTW, I saw your ladybugs. Really good!
May 6, 2013 16:16:53 #
I just try not to worry about it, stay pesticide free, and hope for the best. Here'a a point and shoot from last year.
Same rose in upper right.
May 6, 2013 17:13:22 #
OddJobber wrote:
I'm with you on the "no pesticide" stance. I have purchased Lady Bugs in the past-- but no longer have a garden-- only "eye candy".I just try not to worry about it, stay pesticide free, and hope for the best. Here'a a point and shoot from last year.
May 6, 2013 23:43:08 #
Farview wrote:
Lady beetles (not true bugs) are everywhere, including Pennsylvania. As the weather warms, you will see nymphs http://www.flickr.com/photos/nikonian72/5969067384 , then pupa http://www.flickr.com/photos/nikonian72/6063875391 , and finally adults http://www.flickr.com/photos/nikonian72/6064423382 .Thx for the picture lesson on Ladybugs. Where do they come from? Do they spread from west to east? So it might take them a few days, weeks to get to east coast?
May 6, 2013 23:52:20 #
OddJobber wrote:
Brave man! You have decent equipment. Consider using diffused speedlight illumination, which will greatly increase your DoF, and allow much more manageable shutter duration.Reversed 50mm + 36mm extension, f/16, 2 sec in shade, ISO 100, cropped
May 7, 2013 00:00:10 #
Thanks, Nik. Those shots were with natural light only. I need to work on that. Meantime, no one has answered Farview's question, "where do they come from".
Well, there was a boy bug, and a girl bug.......
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