Can you guess what insect this is?
It's a larva of a ladybug (ladybird/lady beetle). I think this was a
Multicolored Asian Ladybug.
The first time I saw a ladybug larva, I couldn't make the connection. The adults and larvae look too different! I mean...look at some adults of the
Sevenspotted Ladybug.
Ladybugs feed on many insects (those small enough to be eaten of course), but they are widely used as vicious predators of aphids, a pest of many agricultural and ornamental plants. Aphids can be really annoying, especially when they grow to high densities, make the plant all sticky and then take off and land in my eyes as I bike. Grrr...
Nevertheless, I can't help but /cry for them aphids for having to suffer the tyranny of... what must seem to them a MONSTER/HERALD-OF-THE-WORLD'S END.
For the ladybug larvae, they feed and grow by going through multiple stages (instars). Between each instar they got to molt, and here is an exuvia of a molt.
At the final instar, the larvae turn into pupae. Two pupae of two different species are shown here in this picture.
Here is a pic of a pupa from which an adult ladybug has already emerged. Another ladybug to terrorize aphids!
*all pictures were taken in Davis, California, USA. Most were taken just outside my apartment.
