Saturday, April 12, 2008
Break time for the farmworker

Another lady bug fresh from work on our epi farm. They are doing a great job, the aphids are virtually gone! So she (he?) deserves a break. This is a rose from our first anniversary. Lasted well didn't it? Well, it helps to buy the bush rather than the cut flowers. :-D

Unlike the Ladybug from yesterday I shot this one with a macro lens attachment and no bellows. This was the closest I could get as compared to yesterday when I was actually at the maximum focal distance of the bellows. This way I can get a little bit of the beautiful surroundings. Oh, and as you can probably tell it's dark outside. I was using a hand-held light to get these shots. I'ts best to release the lady bugs in the evening unless you just want them to fly away.

It was interesting though, they were much warmer and therefore much more active tonight. It finally got to the point where I had to go inside because I was covered in ladybugs. Fortunately these don't bite unlike the apparently carnivorous ladybugs in the farm country where my parents live. When the farmers harvest the fields the ladybugs run... and then they descend upon my parents' house in a swarm.

Friday, April 11, 2008
Lady in the Epi

The ladybugs seem to really love our epis. Probably because when they start to bloom (the epis, not the bugs :-D) there's a lot of nectar around the buds. The nectar seems to attract aphids. This time we tried to get the jump on them. We bought a small bag of ladybugs from the hardware store. Of course I was not going to let them go until the camera was ready!

I used a bellows to get close enough for this shot. The whole background of the shot is the same flower that the ladybug is sitting on.

Tuesday, May 1, 2007
Ladybug Daisy

I noticed this little guy (or girl) when we were walking The Hound the other day. If you look close enough you can actually see my reflection in his back. I did a little poking around to see if perhaps the lack of spots meant it was a younger ladybug (I thought I read that somewhere). But apparently it's just a different kind of Ladybug and there are hundreds of different kinds in the US, thousands in the world.

I did however, find out that the name Ladybug comes from when farmers prayed to the Virgin Mary to help save their crops from pests. When the small red beetles came to save the day (and the crops) the farmers started calling them "The Beetles of Our Lady".

Thursday, July 6, 2006
Red Lady

This morning I was playing in our little garden, and I found this little guy on one of our interesting plants. I don't recall ever seeing a Ladybug with no spots. The leaves it was exploring are on a small Plumeria tree (think of the sweet smelling flowers that most Hawaiian leis are made of) The tree has been with us for years but many times it has been fighting for life with no leaves at all. As you can see it is very happy now.

Friday, May 12, 2006
Ladybug Closeup

We had a visitor in the backyard today. This little guy is on the tip of one pad of one of our Epiphyllum (a kind of cactus, like a Christmas Cactus, but with bigger pads). So many photos right in the back yard!

Speaking of that, the Epiphyllum themselves are starting to explode! Their blooms are an amazing 3"-6" across! I'll get a good shot of them up here soon.