On this page the following entry/entries were made in “2002.” Check out other years in our Archives.
Bug Blog Archives for “2002”
California Girls
It’s March in Lodi, California (elevation 52 ft.) and the well-mated matriarch ladybugs from last year are busy feeding and laying eggs. It is here that our story begins.
Two of a large cluster of orange, football-shaped eggs begin to hatch. The tearing and ripping and stretching of the egg cases looks terribly painful and undeniably laborious but it isn’t. It’s just a-day-in-the-life for ladybug larvae. Two tiny little larvae-call them Jeanne and Mary-complete their hatching struggle and venture forth with only each other for support. At this point they’re very small and mostly black in color. And very hungry. Both young ladies are mostly defenseless and uncertainty creeps into their heads. It is quickly discovered, though, that the Lodi farmer’s field where they begin their lives-the one next door to a large packing plant-yields food for our two newborns: aphids. Mary notices them first and begins her voracious feeding. Jeanne, curious, waddles over to Mary and joins her.
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