Ladybug Life Cycle

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Clik here to view.What is the ladybug life cycle?  I asked this question after I got this great photo of two ladybugs mating.  I was so happy to see the ladybugs on my lettuce because aphids were attacking my lettuce.  Ladybugs and their larvae love to eat aphids.  Once I saw them on the lettuce leaves I started to look for eggs and larvae.  I was very interested in seeing the actual ladybug eggs and larvae.

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After some searching I found some lady bug eggs!  There weren’t very many–a ladybug can actually lay many more than this but it is also normal to just lay a few.  Ladybugs are from the Coccinellidae family of small beetles.  They can be found worldwide.  The eggs will hatch in a few days producing a larva that doesn’t look anything like a ladybug.

Know the Ladybug Life Cycle!

Image may be NSFW.
Clik here to view.It is important to know what a ladybug larva looks like so you don’t kill it thinking it is some garden pest.  The ladybug mother chooses a place to lay her eggs where there is food.  So because I had aphids on my lettuce, the ladybug mother decided that my lettuce would make a good home for her eggs.  When the eggs hatched into larvae they would have plenty to eat.

After a few weeks the larva transform into a pupa.  There they will metamorphasize into an adult ladybug and the cycle will start over again.  Insect Lore sells a Ladybug Land kitImage may be NSFW.
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to grow ladybugs so that children can watch the whole interesting process.

Here are some ladybug freebies for teachers to use.

Here is a great video showing a ladybug laying eggs. Thanks to Matty7D for the video:

Lastly here is a link to a video on the ladybug life cycle.

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