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.

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