A Very Busy Place

Well, I was attracted by the ladybugs. They're red. They're bright. They were doing their cute couple thing. And the light wasn't too glaring, which is usually the problem with ladybugs getting too reflective. And as I'm looking through the lens, I see the green larva. That was pretty exciting. It wasn't until I got the image up on the big screen than I noticed the smaller arced greyish larva nestled in the flower. Huge excitement. Please try to enlarge this for the full effect.

I chose this image for its sheer busyness, and then spent quite a long time sitting in the dirt watching the tiny larvae inch along in the flowers. They are brave tenacious little things and I forgot completely about the ladybugs and their adventures.

At one point I saw a spider wrap one of the larvae and carry it off about a foot into a secure hiding place, pushing and pulling and sweating his way through his foraging routine.

I discovered that if you shake the flower stem, the larva will stand rigid on its hind feet--and in the complexities of the erigeron plant it was sometimes very well camouflaged and sometimes not.

What I have not discovered is what these creatures will become. I hope they're not some dreadful pest, because I've grown quite fond of them.