The Hunters Are Back

Mar 17, 2010
The hunters are back.

Ladybugs, aka ladybird beetles, are searching for aphids and other soft-bodied insects.

If you see a ladybug (family Coccinellidae), odds are you'll see her prey, the plant-sucking aphids.

Today we spotted a ladybug in a flower garden on the UC Davis campus and she wasn't there to enjoy the warm sunshine or watch the students go by. 

She was there to dine.

The ladybug snared a few aphids, then flipped under a leaf like an Olympic athlete performing a daily routine.

She wasn't going for a gold medal, though. She was heading for another kind of gold--a gold aphid.

By Kathy Keatley Garvey
Author - Communications specialist

Attached Images:

SEVEN-SPOTTED LADYBUG crawls along a leaf in a UC Davis flower garden. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

Ladybug

FACE TO FACE with a seven-spotted ladybug. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

Face to Face

ARE THERE MORE aphids on the other side? A ladybug flips over. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

Upsy Daisy

THE END--A ladybug is the one of the most recognizable of all insects, but not in this photo. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

The End