12 replies to this topic

[CID Farwin]

So we've got some new bugs in the neighborhood. I want to know what they are.
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So, yeah, not the best pictures, but you should get the idea. That's a plum that that one's sitting on, and they seem to be all over the plum tree in our backyard. The pictures should give you at least a good idea of their size, but other than that They're orange and black, half of them look like little ladybugs, and the other half look like the one in the pictures (all spiky-like and such.)

What are they? Are they going to be a problem? What should we do?

[Chikara Nadir]

If some of the bugs look like ladybugs, and you think they might just be a variation of such, they might be attracted to the plum tree by aphids. In that case, they're actually helping you out by killing off a pest.

I don't know whether that's what they are or anything about the other bug, though. What region do you live in? We might be able to narrow down what sort of beasties you have based on what's native to the area.

[Veteran]

It's a baby ladybird/ladybug!

[CID Farwin]

I'm in northern Utah county, Utah.


It's the one near the middle that looks like a shoe.

[Chiaki]

I highly dout its a ladybug. My little brother thinks it might be a caterpillar, or some other kind of young bug, but I don't think so.

There are a few sites you can submit images and descriptions to, though, and hopefully find answers that way.

http://www.insectidentification.org/ and http://bugguide.net/node/view/15740 might be your best bets.

[Iron Knuckle]

It is a ladybug, but that image is its larvae: . Also: News on an infestation of these...

[Chiaki]

Wow. I guess I didn't figure ladybugs looked like that.


At least ladybugs are generally good bugs, aren't they?

...Is it just me, or do the ladybug larvae look bigger than the full grown ladybugs? o_o

[Wolf O'Donnell]

At least ladybugs are generally good bugs, aren't they?

Ladybird 'risk to 1,000 species'

[Sir Deimos]

i don't think its a ladybug larval form. i have those kinda bugs around where i live in new jersey. i dont know what they are, but they look like the same bugs. if its what i think it is it definitely isn't a ladybug

[Showsni]

Wow. Ladybird larvae look freaky. When I was in the first year at university, my room would often be invaded by ladybirds; and the third year, too, actually. There's a simple charm to get rid of them:

Ladybird, ladybird, fly away home,
Your house is on fire and your children all gone,
All except one, whose name is Ann,
And she hid under the frying pan.

[Chukchi Husky]

...Is it just me, or do the ladybug larvae look bigger than the full grown ladybugs? o_o

I think for many insects the larvae is bigger than the adult form.

Once outside there was an unused fish tank for some reason filled with water. The water had gone green and if you looked at it you would think there was nothing in it, but if you looked at it from a certain angle, you could see that just below the surface it was full of I think mosquito larvae.

[SnowsilverKat]

Gah, of course I wouldn't see this right away...

*puts on entomologist hat*

That's a ladybug larva. They're voracious predators and generally a good thing to have in your garden, because they'll eat bad things eating your garden plants. (yes, there are some that are invasive and can be more of a pest, but in your gardens you generally want them there)

In general, like Husky said, the larval form of an insect is larger than the adult. That's because the process of metamorphosis is pretty energy intensive (breaking down nearly every cell in your body and then rebuilding yourself? Check.), so they actually lose a bit of mass, usually about 30%, in the process. With beetles, like your ladybug, this is definitely the case. When you think of some of those tropical beetles the size of your fist...imagine the big fat squishy larva those things come from!

...whew, I knew that Master's Degree was good for something...

[CID Farwin]

Hm, I thought they might just be ladybugs. (Again, around half of them actually look like ladybugs.)

The thing is, these look nothing like the ladybugs we usually get, and they're all over the plum tree. And some of them look like they're burrowing in (or just latching onto) our plums.