Anne Elliott's photos with the keyword: Lady Beetle

This photo was taken a week ago, on 29 May 2015, on a trip way down in southern Alberta, 170 km S of Calgary. A small group of us spent the day at the Whaleback, climbing the ridges, doing a species count. We had such a great day, finding all sorts of things of interest - plants, mosses, lichens - and in my case, insects, animals and birds, too : ) In fact, anything and everything, lol. The weather was good for walking, not too warm and, up till the last part, dry. When I say "walking", the word "strolling" is perhaps more accurate - with friends like this, there seems to be something of interest every few feet. This kind of outing really suits me and my body! We were so lucky that the rain stayed away for most of the day. When I went on this outing in May 2013, it rained all day, though I still managed to get plenty of photos. This recent day was overcast with low haze, making scenic shots very unpleasant. Just before taking the turn for the road leading to a place to park, we stopped at a spot down by the river and did a search there. I was thrilled to bits to find three or four Western Tent Caterpillars on a plant next to a large rock and thought what a way to start the day. After taking a few photos, I walked round to the other side of the rock and noticed what almost looked like a circular patch of lichen growing on the rock surface. A closer look revealed a mass of dozens of these caterpillars, with several others climbing up in single file to join the rest. Still makes me itch all over, just thinking about it, lol! Their "tent" was barely visible just below them on the rock. Another highlight of the day for me was when I happened to notice a tiny spot of bright red deep inside a distant Early Yellow Locoweed flower. I zoomed in for a photo and thought it looked like it might be a Ladybug. Couldn't count the spots properly, so I very gently parted the petals to get a better look. Unfortunately, it crawled on to my hand and wouldn't return to a petal until after I had taken two or three macro shots, and then it immediately moved out of sight. I was so happy to find that it was a different kind of Ladybug, though I had seen one a few years ago - a Convergent Ladybug. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hippodamia_convergens Part way through the day, I stayed behind while the rest of the group climbed to a higher ridge, and I explored the lower ground. It was a place where I knew I wouldn't get lost - but I did have to wait till at least some of the others returned a few hours (?) later, as others were needed to create an opening to climb though the barbed-wire fence again : ) I found plenty to photograph and it was quite a feeling to be so high up with such an amazing view all around, and to be alone up there. While I sat to eat lunch on a rocky outcrop with a couple of trees, a tiny Clay-coloured Sparrow came to visit a couple of times and sing for me. Also, there were maybe half a dozen Brewer's Blackbirds that stayed around the area for much of the time, flying or perched on low bushes. A truly magical time. The rest of the group had a great time, too, and saw Parry's Townsendia flowers and lots of Balsamroot in bloom. Fortunately, I had seen the Townsendia before on a brutal hike to Picklejar Lakes several years ago. Two years ago, I had also seen hillsides at the Whaleback covered in the bright yellow Balsamroot flowers. I did manage to find several plants huddled together lower down, so was happy to get a few photos of these bright and cheery flowers. As usual, their large leaves and beautiful flowers had been well-nibbled by the caterpillars that live on them. Altogether, a wonderful day in an incredibly beautiful place with great company! Many thanks, Robin and Cedric, for giving me a ride there and back - appreciated it SO much! And Sandy, if you happen to read this, I guess I have to thank you for not letting me know that you wouldn't be going, lol!

..... I want to be just like Mom and Dad - a LADYBUG (or Lady Beetle)! Not the greatest photo, but I thought I'd share these Ladybug larvae with anyone who is not familiar with what they look like at various stages of development. Strange insects, for sure : ) Seen at the Reader Rock Garden, on many of the plants.

When I went downstairs to my kitchen a few days ago, I noticed this tiny Two-spotted Ladybug (Adalia bipunctata) on one of the flowers. My kitchen is quite dark, especially as I still haven't changed an awkward lightbulb in there, so I grabbed a flashlight and snapped this. There are approximately 35 species of Ladybug in Alberta. "This most familiar Lady Beetle is found throughout Alberta in fields and gardens. As winter approaches, the Two-spotted Lady Beetle might move into your house to seek a dry safe place to hibernate for winter .....The Two-spotted Lady Beetle overwinters as an adult under piles of leaf litter or in some other protected space. Sometimes they congregate in large numbers to sleep away winter." From talkaboutwildlife.org. After a beautiful day yesterday, today it's -2C and we have had/are still having heavy snow all day long, and now a strong wind has developed. Here comes winter, AGAIN! So depressing. (Note to self, because I have such a bad memory: I saw this photo in Explore at #85 last night, but it was not picked up by Scout. I'm beginning to get a little irritated that yet another photo has been missed by Scout in the last week, but I'm sure this happens to many of you, too : )) Later: yay, it's finally shown up on Scout.

We saw this little beetle yesterday, south of Calgary, near Nanton, southern Alberta. It looked just like a Ladybug, but a bit larger and fatter, and no spots on the red. I looked at hundreds of Ladybug photos on Google last night, but couldn't find anything like this one. Maybe it's not a Ladybug after all?! Later: many thanks to Doug for the ID, Large Orange Ladybug (Anatis lecontei).

At the end of two consecutive walks down in Weaselhead three days ago (the annual Dawn Chorus walk and then a bird group walk), I came across this little Seven-spotted Ladybug hugging a metal sign. "The Seven-spotted Lady Beetle is probably our most familiar Lady Beetle, being found in gardens, parks and natural areas across the continent. It wasn't always this way though - this, large, attractive beetle was brought over in the 1950's from Europe to the eastern US to supplement the aphid-eating prowess of the native lady beetles. This hardy alien has since spread across the continent. There is concern that this alien lady beetle is causing a decline in some native lady beetle species, particularly of the once common Transverse Lady Beetle. Are the robust Seven-spots out-competing the natives, eating the eggs of the natives, spreading disease or hybridizing with natives? No one knows for sure, but it is another cautionary example of the dangers of introducing alien species. One thing that ecologically conscientious gardeners can do is to refrain from buying alien species as biological controls and purchase native ones instead." talkaboutwildlife.ca/profile/index.php?s=1429