Bugs in The Backyard - Ladybugs

Can you see the eggs in this tree?

Not birds eggs, but ladybug eggs.

Apparently, a female ladybug can lay 50 to 300 tiny eggs in her lifetime, leaving the yellowish, oblong eggs in clusters of 10 to 50. Just like what we've been seeing all over our apple tree.

We've spotted several different types of ladybugs on the tree eating aphids, and avoiding ants, so we're not sure which ones are leaving the eggs, maybe if we're lucky enough to spot some of the ugly little larvae, we'll have a better idea.

Ladybug eggs hatch in 3 to 5 days, depending on the weather. The larvae start out small, and then grow for 3 to 4 weeks, as they consume large number of aphids, before entering the pupa stage.

We found an apple blossom laden with eggs, and decided to pick it, and bring it inside, in hopes of being able to spot the larvae after they hatch. Right now, they are sitting in a plastic cup, next to our caterpillars from Insect Lore.

I have no idea if it will work, or not, but we left enough eggs behind on the tree to take care of the aphids, and keep up the ladybug population, just in case.

I'll certainly keep you posted if we see any larvae.

It's great to be a homeschooler.