Here’s the thing with pests. By definition they must be doing something to bother you. And in a very weird way, I welcome the sight of pests in my garden. If they’re trolling around on my tomato, lettuce, and potato leaves it must mean that they value the meal. And if they value the meal, it must mean that good stuff is being offered. Twisted, but it just seems like if the bugs dig my plants I’m on to something.
I don’t use sprays and chemicals. As I explained in the monkeys eat bugs post, I mostly just get down in the dirt and pluck the bugs off myself. Still, I love it when the cavalry arrives!
Today the cavalry were all ladybugs AND (this was cool) ladybug larvae.
The ladybugs are all over the potatoes, peas, and greens. They cluster together sometimes in the shade of leaves (or twine), strike out on their own for some water or bugs, and get down to larvae business.
It is worth rejoicing if you are seeing not just ladybugs, but the larvae. They eat like my 1 year old son – cramming fistful after fistful of pests into their jaws while they build up the means to hit the pupae stage before becoming the black-spotted dealers of bug justice that we all know and love.
The larvae just look amazing to me. Most of the time they are described as alligators and I can see that. They taper toward the end and the tail can look like the scaly, segmented tail of an alligator. But the blur of dusty 
red on their middle, the black of their bodies, their impressive jaws – they look like deadly aliens.
The larval stage lasts a while, several weeks. The pupae stage happens when they decide to take a little rest. After about a week, the pupae are gone and we’ve got adult ladybugs ready to defend the harvest.
The good guys are here bad guys. Head for the hills.
Compostings 
Gotta love those Lady Bugs!! We had one follow us home from the Jersey Shore today, it had been on my daughter all day, she was starting to feel like she was being stalked.We drove home and I pulled out my blanket and there it was.I hope she likes it in our garden.
Thanks for marking me as a fave on Blotanical…it was such a nice way to “find” your blog!
great post. I love it when the lady bugs show up each spring.
I love the look of ladybug larvae. The adults look too peaceful to eat any nasty bugs, but the larvae look the part of a fierce warrior.
I love the red lady bugs, but they are nowhere to be found in my town unless I buy them and have them shipped in. We have the orange beetles and their larve BITE!!!
We bought some lady bugs awhile back and every now and then I still catch a glimpse of a few. I wish that more had stuck around, but it is just so hot in our part of the world!
Two things . . . .
Are you having any problems with the Harlequin Ladybird? We haven’t got it in Dorset yet but it is causing problems in some parts of England.
And . . .
We were astonished when we first came across ladybird larvae. I haven’t checked, but I think they must vary slightly between the different breeds – but ours are purple little monsters with raised yellow spots. (This sounds like a joke but truly, it isn’t.) We don’t see them often – but, when we do, they are extraordinary. They’d do well as extras in a dinosaur film.
Esther
I hadn’t read about them Esther! I believe that they are in the U.S., but I don’t think I’ve seen them in my garden. From what I can tell, it can be tough to tell them apart from more normal (less invasive) ladybirds. It seems like, while they don’t pose an eating threat to plants, they do outcompete other species and that can throw things off. I’m going to take a closer look at the ladybugs in my garden to see if I suspect any harlequins.
And the larvae sound extra cool!
I’ve never noticed a lady bug larvae for that…I’m sure I’ve seen then before, thought it might eat me, and left it alone đŸ˜‰
You’re right Amy. These larvae look capable of some serious carnivorous action. I can only imagine how terrifying it is for those evil aphids to see one of these things coming at them!