My coolest bug event this year...

17 years ago

I WISH I had a macro lens, so I could take good pictures of this.... But I found my first lady bug nymph on Burgundy Iceberg a few weeks ago. I'd never seen one in real life, so I of course had to baby it - scooping it up and moving it around every few days to where the juiciest aphids were...(SUCH a dork).

And then one day it wasn't moving, and had compressed itself to an almost beetle shape, and was a different color scheme (mostly red instead of mostly black). It stayed like that for a few days, and this morning we went out and there was our brand new lady bug, sitting on top of the skin it had burst out of! I was so proud! I hope its female, and lays eggs everywhere.

And that actually reminds me, what do their eggs look like, so I don't mush them if I find them?

Anyway, we're new rose parents and this provided a good week of entertainment! And our roses owe a good deal of their health to you all...

Thanks,

Lara

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Comments (7)

alisande
17 years ago
Cool indeed! I've never seen one, and probably wouldn't recognize it if I did. Good for you for watching and appreciating . . . and for guiding it to those extra-juicy aphids!
hoovb zone 9 sunset 23
17 years ago
Very cool indeed!
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donnaz5
17 years ago
here's a link with some pics of their eggs, larvae, etc..

Here is a link that might be useful: ladybug life cycle
greenhaven
17 years ago
Funny you should post this today, for today I saw MY first larva! I was out photographing my mystery bug when I saw it:

{{gwi:283925}}
well_rooted
17 years ago
Earlier today I bookmarked a webpage on rose pests, good guys and diseases. Very useful. I made a point to rememeber all the good bugs, so I didn't do any of them in. So just awhile ago I rescued the top bug in the webpage linked below. It was in a bucket of water.

On this page is a pic of ladybug eggs. I am embarrassed to say that I squished a group of them a couple of days ago....

Here is a link that might be useful: Friends of roses
york_rose
17 years ago
Lacewing nymphs in action are like something from the movie Alien. They're mandibles are long, sickle-shaped, sharp, hollow picks. They grab the aphid between their mandibles, then lift it skywards and pierce the aphid with the mandibles, sucking out the aphid's internal contents.

When finished they drop the dead husk and move on to the next aphid.

It's like nothing else I've ever seen.
greenhaven
17 years ago
york_rose, how do I know when I have enough host plants to release beneficials? I know they need the food source or they will just leave.