I found this Lady Bug climbing on my H. callistophylla, and thought it made a kind on neat photo.
Doug
Hoya Leaf and Lady Bug
A couple more photos.
Another One.
Last One.
Really neat, Doug!!! Your plants look well grown and the ladybug seems happy!!!
Carol
Neat photo! I've never heard of that Hoya and love those leaves .... and the Lady Bug!
VERY cool photo (top one - well, all of them!), Doug!! Callistophylla is one of my favorites, because of the leaves, and yours look beautiful and healthy!
Karen
Cool photo!!! I also love those leaves, am putting that one on my ever growing wish list as well.
I should ship you a box of lady bugs, awanda......maybe for a few cuttings = )
I always seem to have swarms of ladybugs every winter**, and this year is no exception. There is actually a group of about 50 all packed together in the top corner of my stairwell (I live above a horse barn).
I've had people curse ladybugs because they supposedly bite, but I have yet to ever have one bite me even though I play with them all the time. Maybe it's a karma thing?
**for those of you who periodically stumble across a ladybug corpse during the winter, don't throw it away!!!! they really look dead when they are hibernating
Did the ladybug hitch a ride inside when you brought your plants in for the winter? The leaves on that are gorgeous! Love the coloration and the veins. Very interesting looking.
Thank you everyone for the compliments on the photos. I thought that it made an kind of interesting contrast between the color and shape of the Lady Bug and the neat colors of the leaf. Before I replaced the siding on my house and caulked every joint, I used to get at least a hundred in the house every fall. Of course that wasn't all that came in. Along with the cute Lady Bugs, I would get hundred of flys trying to make their way into somewhere warm before the winter hit. Every day I would come home from work and vacuum all the corners of the house where they would congregate. It was awful. Now that the house is tight, I get no flys and maybe a half a dozen Lady Bugs.
Supposedly Lady Bugs are tremendous Aphid eaters. Has anyone ever actually watched a Lady Bug consume an Aphid? I've never witnessed it myself, but I would like to.
Doug
Love your picture, Doug. I've added that one to my list of wants. I love the coloration of the leaves. I wish I had some ladybugs around here. I don't see any. This summer there wasn't too many bees either. I think the spraying for mosquitoes by the county may have had something to do with it. I have passion vine growing up my screen enclosure and plumbago, so I have plenty of butterflies. Just wish I had bees and ladybugs too.
I sometimes buy Ladybugs from Home Depot when they have them available in Spring and Summer months. Last year I had what I thought was aphids covering my huge Gardenia bushes so I bought a couple packages of the live "Ladie's" from HD. Released them about the yard and in my screen room (to take care of aphids on a hibiscus) .... well, they didn't hang around for very long! Within a couple of hours there were no lady bugs to be found! Come to find out, my Gardenia's didn't have aphids, but thrips and I guess the lady bugs didn't want thrips for dinner! And, the ones I released in my screened pool enclosure got eaten by the little lizards. :( Guess they thought Hey! Free meal! Poor Ladies. :(
I too have made note of the name of that Beautiful Hoya. I have a "Wish" List of plants a mile long already, but keep adding to it. That foliage is really pretty!
Plantladylin!!! I use lady bugs too. Did you release them in the evening? If you do they will stay. Any other time of the day and they are gone!!!!
Hope this helps!!!!
Jeri
Jeri: Thank you so much for that info! No, it was the middle of the day when I released them. I will give it a try again next spring/summer and will definitely release them in the evening!
Thanks,
Lin
I bought them too (for my 6 yr. old grandaughter so she could release them.) They even came with a little "lady bug house" that you hang in the bushes next to where you let them go. She got a big kick out of them watching them for a few days until they all disappeared. Ha. They never even used their little house..ha ha. Guess I will have to try the "evening" thing next time too.
Marcy
Oh, how cute that sounds - a little lady bug house! I've never seen one! I bet the kids would love it though. I wonder if the ladies sleep in there at night?