at the plum tree hangout

The ladybugs are busy

I took a closer look at what was going on in my plum tree the other day. It turns out the tree is hosting the entire ladybug circle of life (cue Lion King music here). It's good thing I didn't get around to doing anything about the aphid infestation.

The orange circles are ladybug eggs and the clear insects (aphids) are food for when the ladybug larvae emerge

Here's an aphid about to be dealt with by a ladybug larvae.

Ladybug larvae are my favorite backyard predator - they look so nasty, reminding me of the alien insects Kahn put into Chekov's ear to control him (From the 1982 Wrath of Kahn).

Ladybug cocoon