Metamorphis
Stage and the Amount of Food Consumed by a Ladybug
Like all ladybugs, they have a
complete metamorphisis with distinct egg, larvae, pupae, and
adult stages. For many species, there appears to be one
generation a year. In spring the adults leave their winter homes
and flys to fields and yards where mating takes place. The
females deposits the eggs in clusters of up to a dozen per mass.
The larvae hatch from the eggs
in about a week and immediately start to consume aphids or other
appropriate food. In a little less than a month they pupate and
the pupae period lasts only about one week. When the adults
emerge they feed on aphids, but as fall approaches they may eat
some pollen which supplies fat for winter hibernation for the
young ladybugs.
The appetite of a ladybug is
really amazing. An adult female ladybug many consume up to 75
aphids a day while the smaller male may eat up to 40. One larva
may eat up tp 350 aphids during its life time. When pregnant the
ladybug could eat as much as twice the normal amount, but will
sooner or later will slim down and eat as much as a nonpregnant
ladybug. Ladybugs feed on lany different soft-bodied insects with
aphid being their main food source.
Ladybug
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