To top it off, I noticed yet another strange bug near by. It looked like it might have been a beetle, but there was no hardened wing coverings and the abdomen was just to darn long. And what was with those crazy 'feet' at the end of the abdomen?
Puzzled I took some photos and went on my way, thinking I would never know for sure. I tried some searches for my mystery bug number one, and thought it might be some kind of mealy bug, but I was not totally convinced.So a few days pass, and I go out to my plants where mystery bug number two is hanging out and low and behold I see a new bug, this one fairly recognizable:
Well, well a ladybug hanging out where mystery bug number two is... Maybe mystery bug number two is a larval form of the lady bug. They are the same color, and you can see the spots starting to form. So I do a little searching and find out that this lady bug is Harmonia axyridis, an asian ladybug. Lucky for me, I also get to solve the identity of mystery bug number two AND number one.As I suspected, mystery bug number two is a pupal form; of the asian ladybug. Number one is the larva of that same individual. What I took for 'feet' was actually the discarded molt of the larva at the end of the pupa. Metamorphosis is so cool... but I can imagine that it drove early entomologists up the wall trying to identify things, much like it drives us plankton-lovers up a wall!
1 comment:
Hello Brine Queen, I love your blog! I found it this afternoon when looking at images of limpets hoping to identify a type of shellfish found on our beach. I didn't find out yet, but was delighted to find your site! Like you I love the little creatures. This afternoon I rescued a paua (abalone) which was drifting on its back in a shallow lagoon. I found a better place for it to live underneath a large rock in a different lagoon. Got some great pictures which I'll post when time allows. Thanks for sharing your enthusiasm for the natural world, and best wishes from me.
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