All these rainy days have prevented me from keeping track of the ladybug eggs I saw about 2 weeks ago. I did glimpse but could not photograph properly the nymphs in the early instar where they were mostly black and tiny versions of the “crocodile-like” older stage (need a camera with better macro focus – these bugs are less than 5mm long!). And now that I did manage to go out with the camera between the rainy spells, what did I find?
A cocoon already!
From the side - the ladybug cocoon at about 2 days old.
I'm not sure if this is the front or rear of the cocoon, but it's an end of it...
So it looks like the life cycle is around 2 weeks from egg to ladybug. One day soon, I will catch the entire cycle with my camera…
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Very pretty lady bird!
That’s the cocoon, actually. One day I hope to catch the magical moment when the ladybug emerges from the cocoon…
Set up camp in the garden!