Multi-Colored Asian Lady Beetle---Easter Feast

Many of us are familiar with the ladybug pictured here, it is the Multi-Colored Asian Lady Beetle (Harmonia axyridis). These are the ladybugs that commonly invade homes and other human structures in the fall. They are looking for places to spend the winter months when their food is not available. They find our dwellings much to their liking, to the constant irritation of humans. They can and often do bite, although the bite is not particularly painful, just annoying. They give off a distasteful, musky odor when disturbed, and their feces stains carpets and other fabrics. Many thousands of these beetles many share our homes during the winter and keeping them out is an ongoing battle. While it is true that they are excellent at aphid control as well as the control of other soft bodied insects, they also feed on other insects like this unfortunate fly pictured here. The flies abdomen has a white furry appearance which makes me think that the fly was previously infested with a fungus of some sort. Had the beetle not consumed the fly, the fungus would have. Once the beetle got his fill he walked off and the image left behind is a bit morbid. The flies head is just hanging by a thread over the edge of the leaf. Makes a person glad you aren't a fly!