LADYBUGS

Spring is here and so are the bugs..  But before you go squishing every bug you see make sure you know what you are killing.  Ladybugs can be important in our yards, and gardens, they eat aphids.   The larvae look sort of funny and so if you are not sure what they look like see a post with a photo of one here: http://www.gather.com/viewArticle.action?articleId=281474979625679

Last year I posted about a site called the lost ladybug project.  There are tons of specides of ladybugs and many are disappearing and have become rare. 

You can visit the site here:

http://www.lostladybug.org/index.php

and I encourage all of you to take photos of ladybugs when you come across them and submit them to the site yourself. 

I submitted 6 photos already this year, just this week, and have found 5 different species all in one day, monday. 

 

Altogether since I came across the site last year I have submitted 14 photos and had 9 different species confirmed.  Including the rare 9spot ladybug, the rare transverse ladybug, and the rare 2 spot ladybug. 

Here are the photos from the ladybugs I have found just this week. 

the following I have submitted to the site:

9-spot -Coccinella novemnotata

 

another 9spot:

 

Species: Coccinella trifasciata

 

 

Species: Hippodamia caseyi

 

Species: Coccinella transversoguttata

 

Species: Coccinella septempunctata

 

 

Thanks for looking, and I hope you all will be watching out for ladybugs and photographing and sharing them yourselves with the site. 

Hope you all have a wonderful day!