Have you ever wondered what the life cycle of a ladybug looks like? I was dumbfounded when I checked my giant milkweed last night in search for caterpillars and found these weird looking “bugs” all over the leaves. I took a few photos and sent it to one of my friends who works at an all native nursery who has a wealth of knowledge. She sold me my first butterfly plants. When she told me I had ladybug larva and pupa on my leaves I was completely giddy!

Nature is so incredibly cool when you slow down enough and look at what it produces.

I have had ladybugs appear on my milkweeds in the past, but I have never had the lifecycle appear. So, of course I went back out to the milkweed this morning and took photos and admired nature.

The lifecycle of the ladybug includes eggs, larva, pupa, young ladybug and the adult. I did not see any eggs on the first glance, but definitely saw many stages.

I have read that the female ladybug can lay anywhere from 10 to 50 eggs at a time. Four days later the larvae stage is entered. Just like caterpillars they also molt to enter into the next stage.

What I read is it takes a couple of weeks for the pupa stage. They will attach themselves to the either leaves, or twigs to go through metamorphosis, which can take three to 12 days. Ladybugs are yellow to begin with and have soft exoskeletons, making them easy prey. The young ladybugs also feed on soft insects.

I had no idea that an adult ladybug can live up to a year.