From rq: I have included a bad shot of a black ladybug for the record. Camera didn’t capture the focus and due to the bright sun outside I only noticed until it was far too late. :) How cool, I’ve never seen a black ladybird before! Click for full size.
© C. Ford.
Ladybugs? I love the little things, but you don’t usually feature predators in your pictures. Ladybugs are aphid killing machines.
Yes, they are, and all the more loved for being such efficient aphid eaters.
Ladybirdybugs are cool. Just like the bats that keep the mosquitoes in check.
Yes, they are. I got a shot of one in process of doing a lift off one time. That was a grand day!
What I get from your comment, Raucous Indignation, is ‘More predators!’ Challenge accepted. :)
And yes, ladybirds do well with the aphids, bothering the hell out of all the agriculturally-minded ants that live under my roses.
One day I will photograph a bat. One day.
@rq That was not the purpose of the of my comment, although I will gladly send a photo of one of the local raptors if I can ever get the settings on my camera right. Most of Caine’s critter posts are not predators per se, although quite a few of the birds are omnivorous and/or subsist on insects. Maybe I’m over thinking this? Wait, me overthink!? Ha! Never!
Anyway, in a few weeks my bathroom will be overrun by Ladybugs. Every Spring. Like the turning of the Seasons, there they will be.
Oh, I’ve posted photos of Sharp-shinned Hawks who hunt birds Chez Caine, I just don’t see them very often. Most of the raptors seen here at home are flying overhead; they don’t bother hunting with so much tree cover. For that, you need to get out and about, traveling gravel. When you get out to where are the fields are and such, you see a lot more raptor activity.