I 💗 Ladybugs. When I saw a tree full of them exhibiting their life cycle, I was entranced.

Check out the heart by this lady's head. Yes, another example of finding LOVE in nature. Who doesn’t love ladybugs? They’re fascinating to study, and they serve as a natural form of agricultural pest control.
The ladybugs life cycle is approximately four to six weeks long. The adult ladybug will lay as many as three hundred eggs among an aphid colony where the eggs will hatch within five days.
These newly hatched ladybugs, or larvae, are dark colored and almost alligator-like, growing up to one centimeter in length.


They will then eat the aphids for up to a three week time period before entering their pupa stage for approximately a week until they emerge into the adult ladybug. Within a twenty-four hour time frame, they will have their spots.
Ladybugs are a turn-off to predators. The bright colors and distinctive spots on ladybugs are only attractive to humans – not to their predators. The little beetles also harbor a secret weapon: when threatened, they secrete a fluid from the joints in their legs that gives them a foul taste. They can also play dead. Who knew? Yes, I do 💗 ladybugs!
And while this guy isn't a ladybug, I thought he, and his shadow, were pretty cool.