The Strange Life Cycle of the Ladybug

Over at the Ark in Space, there is an excellent article about the strange - no, bizarre - life cycle of the ladybug. What you can see above is what they look like before they become those ravishing little dots of red and black in your garden.

These insects are the favorite of many children but behind the pretty exterior lies an eating machine of devastating proportions which will stop at nothing to get at its next meal and involves itself in some quite ghastly goings on in the shrubbery, even involving intraguild predation (cannibalism, basically).

Altogether it is quite a remarkable life cycle, going on right under our noses.

Take a look


Image Credit: Giles San Martin