Clark's Oregon Wildflower Blog: Ladybird Beetles?

On Iris tenax at Cape Perpetua

Just the other day I was sitting out on the deck having my afternoon coffee. I was thinking to myself, what a perfect summer we have enjoyed this year. Our senior-aged cat, Pandora, was stretched out on the table staring at me through half opened eyes as I ruminated about summer. Then, I swear, she put a bug in my ear... "critters," was the silent mental deposit she left with me; or was I just real low on caffeine? Well, no matter, with the bloom season drying up like last year's tube of sunscreen, the blog is starting to be a bit anemic.

OK, I thought to myself, that's not a bad idea, we can do a post devoted to the critters seen while on my quest for flowers - how exciting would that be?! Pandora yawned and seemed to nod slightly in approval, prior to resuming her nap. As I pondered the possibilities for such a post, the phone rang, so I came back to reality like a used car salesman closing a deal on the last day of the month. Soon I was on another track, the critters post taking a distant place in memory...

In my quest to find more blooms, I often find butterflies, bees, and ladybugs on plants or flowers. Although the butterflies are more photogenic, the tiny ladybugs are usually easier to capture because they don't fly as much. So when I was looking through a raft of my yet to be posted photos, I noticed quite a few ladybugs - and then my critters thought returned like an unsigned Form 1040 on tax day. So, here's a small collection of ladybird beetles for your viewing pleasure as you sip the beverage of your choice.

Elsewhere in the world, ladybugs are called ladybird beetles, and are members of the Coccinellidae family of beetles. It's a huge family with over 5,000 species worldwide and 450 just in North America. For the most part, ladybird beetles are desirable because they eat large numbers of aphids and other garden pests. The "lady" part of the common name comes from a middle ages European tale of farmers who were losing their crops to pests. They prayed to the Virgin Mary for relief and the beetles showed up to rid the pests. They were named lady beetles after that. See the links below for other fascinating ladybird beetle factoids!

Several years ago, for her birthday, I gave Sharon a bag of live ladybugs for the garden. The bag had at least 100 of the beetles so naming them was not an option. Those little "buggers" quickly dispersed over our property and who knows, we probably still have descendants flying around doing their work today (see photo below)!