The first yellow ladybug of this year (that I’ve seen, anyway)

I’ve been wondering whether the loofah plants would bring back the yellow ladybugs, and they have.

These little fellas seem to feed on powdery mildew on cucurbit plants, and I last saw them on our previous angled loofah plants – incidentally, growing in the same location.

The yellow ladybug larvae is a lighter colour than its red cousins, which are predominantly black. The shape is the same, though, so don’t kill them if you see them on your plants – they are busily eating pests you may not see immediately.

At first, there was just the one ladybug. A few days later, I spotted tiny ladybug larvae on several leaves. I don’t know if this ladybug lays its eggs in a cluster like the red ladybug, or singly, but there seemed to be just one larvae per leaf. Maybe they had been in a cluster but had spread out – I don’t know. What I do know is that I’m going to have fun watching these little fellas grow bigger, go into cocoon mode, then hatch into adult yellow ladybugs.

Here’s my last post following them through their life cycle.

© 2013 curiousgardener.com All rights reserved.