Life cycle of a ladybird (image heavy)

In mid May I was privileged to discover a ladybird laying her eggs on our rose arbour. I was able to track their progress through the entire development of the larvae, right up to the emergence of the new ladybirds from their pupae. ..... And there were a couple of surprises too!

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

Fantastic! and all captured so clearly to show the full story.

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Wow...what an epic adventure you got yourself into. I felt like i was watching something from BBC Springwatch complete with knowledgeable commentary. Well done...i'm really impressed. Learnt a few things as well.


regards

Karlo

Very good timeline with a couple of surprise pictures. And I've learnt a little. Thank you

That's great - nice idea - nice shots etc - well done

Absolutely marvellous study with truly top class professional photos; this is the standard to aspire to in our photographic efforts.

Regards

x2.

I feel educated about ladybirds too!

Like Springwatch - only better! Great photos and fascinating to see all the stages of development. Thanks!

What a great series - and very interesting study! Thanks for sharing this

amazing set, well done, l never knew they were so vicious

Great study, as all have said above... Have learnt an awful lot... The middle section from eggs to the thing we recognise flying around is a real eye opener...

Best

Very good

What a great sequence of images! Well done to follow it through so comprehensively!

You can't watch something like that and not share it -
thank you all for your comments and I'm pleased that you enjoyed the results

Top class work. Great to see it followed through each stage.