My kids and I surveyed ladybugs for the Lost Ladybug Project this summer, and what you see above is a sampling of the nine species we found. Finding and photographing them was fairly easy … figuring out which was which was not. We *think* these are, from top to bottom, the polished ladybug (Cycloneda polita), the checkerspot ladybug (Propylea quaturodecimpunctata), the three-banded ladybug (Coccinella trifasciata), the spotted pink ladybug (Coleomegilla maculata) and the Asian multi-colored ladybug (Harmonia axyridris). This last is the ladybug that so often invades homes this time of year, and it was by far the most common in our surveys (66 of our 100 specimens).
I am showing amazing restraint here … I could go on and on and on. And I could post photo after photo after photo. Ladybugs are interesting creatures and I am completely smitten. Lucky for you, I have to get myself–and our CD of ladybug data–to the post office.
Happy Friday to you and yours!