A Ladybug's Life Cycle
http://everything-ladybug.com/ladybug-life-cycle.html
The time it takes for a ladybug egg to hatch and become an adult takes about 3 to 4 weeks depending on the weather conditions. The ladybug life cycle sure does happen fast!
Ladybug eggs are very small, oval in shape and are a pale yellow color. Mother ladybugs lay their eggs usually on the undersides of leaves to keep them protected from hungry predators. She makes sure that she leaves her eggs close to a lot of food (aphids) so her little darlings will have plenty to eat once they hatch 3 to 5 days after she lays the eggs.
When you think what a baby ladybug might look like, it's probably a really cute, tiny version of an adult ladybug, right? Well lets just say that a baby ladybug (larva) really lives up to the saying "A face only a mother could love". However, the moms don't stay around to take care of them. Her investment in parenting is to lay the eggs in a food rich environment and move on.
When you think what a baby ladybug might look like, it's probably a really cute, tiny version of an adult ladybug, right? Well lets just say that a baby ladybug (larva) really lives up to the saying "A face only a mother could love". However, the moms don't stay around to take care of them. Her investment in parenting is to lay the eggs in a food rich environment and move on.
Baby ladybugs (ladybug larvae) are long and black with orange markings on its back, a little spikey looking and some say that they resemble alligators, a whole lot smaller of course! Baby ladybugs are virtually as predatory as their parents and spend their days eating and eating and eating, they can eat up to 400 aphids in 2 to 3 weeks, before they go through their awkward "teenage" stage.
After the ladybug babies have filled their little bellies and grown a bit they attach themselves to a leaf and pupate. This is the transition stage when in about a week they will turn into a beautiful little adult ladybug. I guess you could think of a ladybug's life cycle being similar to the Ugly Duckling story!
Images in our ladybug life cycle diagram were kindly provided by our friends at Butterfly-nature.com. If you would like to see more detailed versions of the photos you have seen here, they are available at their site as well as a wealth of information on butterflies and their life cycles.
