Life cycle of a ladybird (image heavy)
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Half Man... Half Pentax ... Half Cucumber
Pentax K-1 + K-5 and some other stuff
Algi
regards
Karlo
Regards
Daronl
Absolutely marvellous study with truly top class professional photos; this is the standard to aspire to in our photographic efforts.
x2.
I feel educated about ladybirds too!

Bob
John
Best
Bill
BillWardPhotography


I know what i like, If not always why.

davidwozhere
Member
Slap in the middle of England
I just grabbed the camera in time for the last egg to be laid (hence the poor shot).
and, as if an omen for the future, "dinner" came along to inspect the result!
10 days later, there were distinct signs of things happening
and after 17 days, this scrum erupted, with tiny larvae scrambling to eat everything left in the egg sacs
They scattered remarkably quickly onto the surrounding rose stems where there was no shortage of food (there is a second one barely visible on the very tip)
and began to eat everything that wasn't quick enough to escape
At the end of June they were fully grown and had moved onto the cherry tree - none chose to pupate on the rose stems or the arbour which, by now, were heavily patrolled by ants who were cultivating the aphids
And the first surprise was their ferocity - this one was nipping my wrist in annoyance at having been disturbed - it could clearly be felt as it did so!
Pupating entailed anchoring the tail and violently condensing the entire body backwards and tucking the head underneath.
It took around four hours to effect a dramatic change
Then the second surprise - the little perishers are cannibals! Not good to pupate first!
When they emerge, after about 10 days, their wing cases lack colour and they can't quite figure out how to control or pack those enormous wings
They get there, eventually
and all that remains is a husk
Pentax K5 with Macro Takumar 50mm and SMC M 100mm macro lenses
Both the *istDS and the K5 are incurably addicted to old glass
My page on Photocrowd - link