Sunday, April 24, 2011

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!

8 comments:

  1. I never saw a ladybug eat a fly before! I guess the fly must indeed have been sick, because you wouldn't think a ladybug would be fast enough to overpower a healthy fly.

    ReplyDelete
  2. I cleared old ones out of a old stone lab building a few years back with a snow shovel.Thousands had met the winter cold in a tiny corner and perished.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Hello,

    Could you please tell me the name of the black/brown moth with orange spots that is the "header" photo for your blog?

    Thank you for your time,
    mitch

    ReplyDelete
  4. Sure Mitch I would be happy to tell you the name of the insect on my blog header. It is a Red Admiral Butterfly. It is nectaring at a fragrant sumac bush.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Hello again -

    Thank you very much for the I.D. I might have had more luck finding it myself online if I wasn't mistaking it for a moth!

    Much obliged,
    Mitch

    ReplyDelete
  6. You're very welcome, they are a beautiful species of butterfly and one of the most commonly seen butterflies here in Missouri

    ReplyDelete
  7. Cool blog!
    I was very impressed by your Lost Ladybug Project photos, your blog is an insect photography festival! Thanks for sharing.

    ReplyDelete
  8. DUDES THEY DON'T DIE FROM COLD THEY JUST GO DORMANT

    ReplyDelete