I thought I’d seen all I would be able to with the life cycle of ladybugs, but it looks like it’s going to continue being a jigsaw puzzle slowly falling into place.

Making what I could of the afternoon sunshine after this morning’s showers, I was checking my plants and was irritated to notice that whiteflies had been laying eggs at my Ladybug Brinjal plant (so named after we discovered ladybugs breeding there). I was about to squish them when I noticed a small cluster of yellow eggs right next to one of the dotted white swirls of whitefly eggs.

Ladybugs lay their eggs close to a food source so that when the eggs hatch, the food is right there waiting!

Hmm, I thought, they look like …ladybug eggs!

Yes indeed, after doing all my online research on ladybugs and their life cycle, the sight of those little yellow eggs rang a bell loud and clear in my head. I hope I’m right, then I can see what ladybugs look like when they’re in the first instar stage. (Ha, just listen to me, the budding entomologist! ) Let’s hope I’ve got this right!

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