The Secret Life of Ladybugs

We have been shoot positioning (among other tasks) in the vineyard, which takes us up close and personal with all of our vines. I have blogged about The Life Cycle of the Ladybug in a previous post in which I show this:

And now I can fill in one important step that takes place between the mature ladybug and the eggs. It is a very short video and the important part is in the first 1-3 seconds. Please be warned that to some, this is may be classified as an R-rated short clip.

This is good news for us because ladybugs are beneficial insects. Ladybugs are predators with ravenous appetites for aphids and other soft-bodied insects. Adult ladybugs will eat several hundred aphids before mating and laying eggs on the infested plants. Ladybug larvae feed on aphids as well.¹

It is not clear from this video that these are truly ladybugs belonging to the family Coccinellidae or the invasive ladybug also belonging to the family Coccinellidae, but is in the genus Harmonia. The Harmonia axyridis also known as the Asian ladybug can be distinguished from the true ladybug because of the "M" marking that can been seen on its pronotum as shown in the beetle on the right.² I learned a lot about the Asian ladybug on Frank Fielder's Wonderful World of Insects website.

One last word. A few weeks ago, we saw what I assumed was a ladybug and sent the photo to our ace identifier, Pamela Cooper from the University of Connecticut Extension Center and she thought it was a member of Harmonia axyridis. I can see where the pronotum might have an "M" but looks more like an "H" to me. I thought it had an amazing color and reminded me somewhat of an anchor bug which I wrote about in a previous post Anchor Bug: Natural Vineyard Pest Management Agent.
So much for a little light digression from the heaviness of understanding the development of inflorescence primordia, but that will be coming shortly!
References:
1. Debbie Hadley, Ladybugs - Family Coccinellidae.
2. Frank Fielder's Wonderful World of Insects.
3. National Geographic Lady Bug Coccinellidae