Ladybugs and colorful aphids

Most of us know that ladybugs (better to call them lady-beetles, since they are not bugs, but sometimes I can't shake the habit!) love aphids. Aphids actually are bugs, in the order Hemiptera, family Aphidae. And there are around 4,400 species of aphids, plenty to love. But they are often garden and crop pests so we don't love them. 'Ladybugs' are beetles in the family Coccinellidae, order Coleoptera, with over 5,000 species. Yesterday I found several species of lady beetles feeding on a colony of red aphids. The contrast against the green leaves was beautiful, and it reminded me of all the other colorful aphids I have found.

This is Coccinella septempunctata - the Seven-spotted Lady Beetle. It was repeatedly introduced to the US from Europe to control aphids.

The larvae of the lady beetle looks like this, a crawling black and orange creature which also hungrily devours aphids.

And here are several Hippodamia convergens - Convergent Lady Beetles, including a mating pair. They are quite common throughout North America. In the western US, they hibernate in the mountains in huge aggregations

Hippodamia convergens aggregation in Arizona

Hippodamia convergens aggregation in California. Note the variation in spot patterns.

A seven spotted lady beetle stalks some red aphids

And now a rainbow of aphids... Red aphids.

Gray-purple aphids

A fluffy white wooly aphid. The "fluff" is a waxy filamentous secretion.

Yellow aphids.

Pink and green aphids. Note the small parasitoid wasp waiting to the left to lay eggs in the aphids!

A standard green pea aphid Acyrthosiphon pisum. You can see the sucking mouthpart inserted in the pea stem. The phloem, or sap, of the plant flows into the aphid under pressure, so the aphid feeds passively. The extra sugar water, called honeydew is excreted from the end of the abdomen.