In the past couple of days I captured a few interesting images that made me think of my Flora and Fauna series, so decided it was time for another entry.

This entry is somewhat similar to previous series entries: Roses and Ladybugs

I have been noticing a lot of ladybugs on my rose bushes, which is good as they are working on cutting down the aphid population. A ladybug can eat thousands of aphids during its life.

Here is a little closer look at some of the aphids. They are tiny little creatures, and a nice meal for the ladybugs.

This picture was just supposed to be a picture of a pink rose. However, if you look closely you will see a large number of ladybug larvae. The larva look a bit like tiny alligators with red spots. They will feed on aphids and other insects for a couple weeks before transforming into ladybugs.

One of my goals this year is to get pictures of ladybug eggs and pupae. I will have to start searching carefully.

I am not sure what type of insect this is, but it is hanging on to this rose bud.

This picture of the same rose bud was taken about 12 hours before the first one. This one also has the same type of insect on it, but it is hanging off the back side. Can you see the legs of the insect at the upper left?

I could not resist adding one more picture past my formulaic five. Actually the second rose bud picture was not planned when I started the post, and I just couldn’t cut this one.

This is a carpenter bee that has been visiting my rose bushes the past week. You can see more pictures of him in my post Carpenter Bee in my Rose Garden.

I hope you enjoyed this latest entry in my Flora and Fauna series. You can find all of them using the search box.

Steven