Posts Tagged: aphids
Kill That 'Alligator-Looking" Critter? No, Don't!
"Yecch! What's that ugly bug? Kill it!" Have you ever heard anyone say that when they see the...
An adult lady beetle (aka ladybug) and a larva. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Close-up of a larva of a lady beetle (aka ladybug). (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Larva of a lady beetle (aka ladybug) eating an aphid. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Hey, I'm Eating as Fast as I Can!
Have you ever seen the larva of a lady beetle (aka ladybug) dining on an aphid? Lights! Camera!...
An immature lady beetle (larvae) chowing down on an oleander aphid. This photo was taken on a milkweed plant in Vacaville, Calif. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
A well-fed adult lady beetle (aka ladybug) ignores a fat Oleander aphid. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
The Enemy of the Gardener
Aphids, don't you just hate them? Especially those oleander aphids that suck the very lifeblood...
Oleander aphids clustering on a milkweed stem. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Aphids magnified on a Leica DVM6 microscope, operated by Lynn Epstein, UC Davis emeritus professor of plant pathology.
The Incredible Aphid-Eating Machines
Just call them the "incredible aphid-eating machines." That would be the lady beetles, commonly...
Lady beetle larva dining on aphids on milkweed, UC Davis campus. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
A lady beetle, aka ladybug, tracks down more prey. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Lady Beetles: The First Ladies of the Garden Having a Ball
See those red spots on your milkweed seed pods? Lady beetles (aka ladybugs or "garden heroes") are...
A lady beetle feasts on aphids on a milkweed plant, Gomphocarpus physocarpus, also known as balloon-plant milkweed or hairy balls. Note the spiky hairs. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Peek-a-boo? Or peek-a-beetle? A lady beetle, resplendent in red, crawls through the spiky hairs of milkweed seed pods. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Hurry! A lady beetle snags aphids on a milkweed seed pod, while other aphids try to escape (far right). (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)