after i sprayed the one apple branch with the lemon juice and water i thought i'd better go have a lookie-loo and see if i'd killed any of the dastardly aphids.. and look what i found!!! not only those 2 frisky ladybird beetles but some other multiple legged critters...
below is a rather hairy little fellow, don't you think!!
and this wee spider seemed to mimic the wee honey ants that were tending to the aphids.....
this larger ladybird beetle had tucked himself/herself into this leaf...nothing like nature's own 'fly-in restaurant' !!!
while i was shooting pictures of the other critters these two little ladybugs wandered all over the one branch and ended up in this coiled aphid filled leaf... i'm hoping that copious amounts of eggs will be deposited here...and my aphid issue will be eaten away... i'm not going to spray the apple tree branch again but will keep a watchful eye for more tent caterpillars and carefully dispose of them....
as for the aphids which i'd sprayed earlier, they did seem to be less but the ants were busy busy milking them so we shall see....
i found this great short video on aphid farming...
and in my hunt for ladybug 'stuff' i found this very cute website page, with a poem i like.. i'm not sure who wrote the poem but it so fits my thoughts on Ladybugs...
Lovely little ladybug,
sent from heaven above,
please watch over my garden,
and fill it up with love.
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6 comments:
Lovely photos. Do you have any special kind of lens to get such wonderful shots? SO glad the ladybug cavalry has appeared to save your garden. =)
thanks biobabbler, the camera i used is my old Nikon D 100 and my lense is an AF MICRO NIKKOR 105mm 1:2:8 D i got it in the states and in a small place so took what i could get! it isn't as macro/micro as i'd like but is very versatile, i can take close ups and even distant.. as for cavalry i have my fingers crossed!!!
What a interwoven little 'community' you have on that apple tree branch;)
They are such colorful little beetles, truly the appaloosa's of the bug word. I saw one yesterday with no spots at all, just brilliant red.
I love your bug photos. I found your site because I googled myself (for a school project) and saw that you had my blog listed under your cool places to go. So thank you very much!! I appreciate it!
Jan
thanks Jan.. i've been blogless of late, but finally back at it! hopefully i get more pics of insects before the fall weather hits full force!
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