Ladybug | Bugging You From San Juan Island

Tag Archives: Ladybug

Spring!

Posted on March 27, 2025 by "BUGGING" YOU FROM San Juan Island 2 comments

I hope it’s safe to say that Spring has finally arrived in the San Juans. We have enjoyed tiny blips of sunshine the past two afternoons, enough to awaken life in miniature around our home. I’ve found these tiny lives going about business on the “highway” around the top of our above ground pool, crumbled mounds of dirt in hard-packed soil where little mining bees have excavated their way to the surface from a long winter sleep, and a suite of species of flies (our best early spring pollinators) sipping at the miniature chickweed flowers that opened overnight. I’ve also seen my first tiny “sugar” ant in the house, most definitely a harbinger of spring!

In these days where we are likely weary of the many assaults on our souls – from reading that we are at the precipice of mass species extinction to the news reports of fires and other natural disasters (intensifying from climate change), and the horror of what we face watching our nation torn apart and not really knowing what the fateful consequences of unchecked power will be, I hope you will do as I am trying to do…take each day moment by moment, and find some beauty wherever you can. Remember the dandelion that blooms in the crack in the concrete. If you’re reading this, go outside and B-R-E-A-T-H-E.

Yesterday I saw the first Yellow Rumped Warbler of the season. The Violet Green Tree Swallows are going to show up any day now. Go soak yourself in nature while we still have nature around us.

Golden Dung Fly (Scathophaga stercoraria)

I’ll leave you to shadow dance with this happy little Cereal fly on my blue garden chair….💙

Thanks for stopping by!

Cereal Fly (Geomyza tripunctata) shadow dancing

Twenty-spotted Lady Beetle (Psyllobora vigintimaculata)

Posted on June 3, 2021 by "BUGGING" YOU FROM San Juan Island Leave a comment

Twenty-spotted Lady Beetle (Psyllobora vigintimaculata) on daisy. This tiny ladybug almost went unnoticed when I was watering flowers the other day. It wasn’t easy to get a photo and she crawled down headfirst into the flower bud. I suppose she was feeling shy!

After reading a bit more about these, I discovered the best place to look for them is at the base of skunk cabbage in early spring. AND, this is the best part. Later in the season, these little beetles switch to plants that have powdery mildew. They eat it. Definitely a garden friend!

Twenty-spotted Lady Beetle (*Psyllobora vigintimaculata*) on Daisy – May 30, 2021 San Juan Island, WA

References/Further Reading

https://bugguide.net/node/view/39631

https://www.researchgate.net/publication/233687670_Biology_and_Co-Occurrence_of_Psyllobora_vigintimaculata_taedata_Coleoptera_Coccinellidae_and_Powdery_Mildews_in_an_Urban_Landscape_of_California

The Three Banded Lady Beetle (Coccinella trifasciata subversa)

Posted on July 6, 2020 by "BUGGING" YOU FROM San Juan Island Leave a comment

*Coccinella trifasciata subversa* on clover

I found my first Three Banded Lady Beetle (Coccinella trifasciata subversa) this morning in the patch of clover in front of my home. At least I believe it is the subspecies ‘subversa’ according to the information I found online and referencing the distribution map. While I did not find much information about this particular species pertaining to life in the Pacific Northwest, I did find that according to the Lost Ladybug Project, this species (Coccinella trifasciata) is considered a species of greatest conservation need in the state of New York.

*Coccinella trifasciata subversa* on clover Photo by Cynthia Brast-Bormann San Juan Island, WA 07.06.2020

Distribution map of *Coccinella trifasciata subversa*

So, because I’m interested in Lady Beetles and conservation, I submitted my photos today to the Lost Ladybug Project. They’re keeping records of sightings and I believe it’s important to collect and share data that help us understand more about the lives all of all the amazing critters we share the planet with.

If you see a Lady Beetle you are interested in knowing more about, take a look at the Lost Ladybug Project here – http://www.lostladybug.org/index.php

If you have time, check out my Facebook Page, Bugs of the San Juan Islands at https://www.facebook.com/buggingyoufromSJI/

Thanks for reading! 🐞🐞🐞

Western Blood-red Lady Beetle

Posted on July 19, 2019 by "BUGGING" YOU FROM San Juan Island Leave a comment

I found three different species of Lady Beetles in my garden this past weekend and wanted to share a bit about them with you. I’ll start with the Western Blood-red Lady Beetle or (Cycloneda polita), also sometimes called the “Polished Lady Bug.”

If you are someone who needs reading glasses (like me) to see things up close, you could easily be fooled into thinking the spot of red on the plant leaf is a drop of blood. Given how accident prone I am, when I first spotted this one, I figured I’d poked my finger again on one of the prickly berry vines that are coming up in my raised garden beds. Upon closer inspection, I was glad I had my camera phone handy.

Western Blood-red Lady Beetle (*Cycloneda polita*)
July 14, 2019
San Juan Island, WA

Ladybird or ladybug beetles are a large and very diverse group of beetles. They are classified in the insect order Coleoptera, family Coccinellidae. Most are known to be highly beneficial, feeding on garden pests like aphids. The Western Blood-red Lady Beetle is one of our native ladybird beetle species. Unfortunately, research is indicating we are losing our native ladybird beetle populations as they are outcompeted by imported non-native ladybird beetles released for biological control.