Insect Picture of the Day

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Last week the ladybugs were swarming and somehow a couple dozen ended up inside my house. They’re pretty and not much of a bother so I was content to let them.

This one was trundling across the kitchen floor when I thought, “I wonder if she would like a drink?” I offered her one, by way of dripping some water on the floor in front of her. She was quite appreciative and stopped for several minutes to tank up. This gave me more than enough time to get the camera and take a few pictures.

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This second picture presents a bit of a quandary. I like the pose better, but I like the dynamic shot angle of the first photo. I guess it’s a good thing I’ve gotten in the habit of running twofers now and then.

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Sing it with me! The ladybug larvae on the bus go… um… they go… um…

What do the ladybug larvae on the bus do?

Reader Michelle from the UK sent this picture in right after ladybug vs. aphid week, and I wish I’d gotten it up at the time, because Ladybugs were totally taking the “we’re cute!” title and the aphids would have LOVED to enter this photo in the “but your babies are ohmygoodness ugly” category.

The ladybugs would have simply smiled. That might be a bug only a mother could love, but guess what? Ladybug larvae eat aphids, too. RAWR! (Admittedy, it’s a very tiny RAWR.)

THAT’S what the ladybug larvae on the bus do!

The ladybug larvae on the bus make the tiniest RAWR!, the tiniest RAWR!, the tiniest RAWR!

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Jeremiah Fargo sends in this picture of an interestingly-spotted ladybug. I’m not sure on the exact species, but I think it’s either Guernsey or Holstein.

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All right, that’s it. The ladybugs win. This is Sandra Tayler’s youngest daughter being swarmed by ladybugs as they sprinkle them out in the garden.

Actually, this is really practical advice, folks. When deploying thousands of tiny killing machines to your garden, be sure to familiarize them with your own offspring, and make sure your offspring are on the “friendlies” list.

Seriously? Awesome photo. This is why ladybugs win, folks. They’re awesome, they’re deadly, and nobody wants to cuddle an armload of aphids.

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Here are Sandra Tayler’s weaponized ladybugs at the moment of deployment. She has sprinkled the cryogenic warriors out in her garden. You can see several upside down that haven’t thawed yet. They’re not dead, they’re merely torpid from being in the refrigerator.

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What’s the difference between ladybugs and aphids? People don’t buy aphids in boxes of a thousand to put on their garden. Do you see this, people? Do you really see? When the aphids get serious, the ladybugs get weaponized.

Sandra Tayler sends in this picture, in which we look right into the barrel of the ladybug gun. Or grenade? It’s more of a bomb, really. Except it’s full of sentient ordnance. And bombs don’t have barrels. And saying “in which we look right into the fuse of the sentient ladybug bomb” just sounds weird.

Anyway! Each beetle in this picture is an aphid eating machine, a six-legged terror ready to be unleashed upon an unsuspecting aphid populace.

Well, maybe a little suspecting. We did tell them it was on.

If you look carefully, you can see several ladybugs flipped upside-down in this picture. This is because ladybugs are shipped in cryogenic stasis. This is the only safe way to ship sentient killer robots. (It also saves you hundreds of dollars in tiny little dramamines. Did you know that a carsick ladybug can throw up six times it’s own body weight?)

Sandra says she opened the box right in the fridge to take this picture. Hold tight, folks, this isn’t the last we’ve seen of these ladybugs.

Thanks, Sandra!

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Ladybug vs. Aphid week continues at InsectPOD, and today the ladybugs start to get serious. This awesome picture comes in from Andrew Lin, who says that this ladybug was preening and flicking out her wings in preparation to fly away.

Andrew also notes that this ladybug actually has battle damage on both sides. That sounds like a great excuse for a twofer, so here you go:

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Thanks, Andrew!

So. Cool wing action and also a battle-damage survivor. The aphids had better get serious if they want to stay in this competition.

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When Andrew Lin sent in this photo of a ladybug mooning the camera I thought–well, to be honest, I was too busy laughing.

Okay guys, brace yourself for Ladybug vs Aphid Week here at InsectPOD!

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When Jeremiah’s wife Maria cried out, “We have an infestation of ladybugs!” he jumped up and ran the other way. She started to laugh at him, and then he returned carrying the camera.

As it turns out, “infestation” meant “two”, which is perhaps the smallest possible number for an infestation. I suppose solitary infestations are possible, such as when a june bug lands in your hair¹ or a cockroach falls off the ceiling over your bed and lands on your face². But even then, I have to admit that “an infestation of ladybug” doesn’t have the same ring to it.

Jeremiah got several great pictures, but I like the detail of this one the best. The shine on the carapace and the mottled texture of the pronotum and eyes is awesome.

Thanks, Jeremiah!

¹ This happened to me as a child once. It was terrifying.

² This happened to me in Puerto Rico³ as an adult. It was terrifying.

³ So we’re talking about one of those 3″-long carribbean mutant cockroaches. I had been asleep, and I dreamed that someone had slapped their hand across my forehead. And then their hand skittered down my face and onto my neck and tried to crawl under the neck of my pajamas and I really don’t want to talk about this anymore.

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This ladybug was cruising around the front yard at Howard and Sandra Tayler’s back in September. There were fully-grown ladybugs and a few larvae as well, so I wonder if some of them don’t overwinter like some caterpillars.