Cycloneda munda – Polished Lady Beetle
Champaign, Illinois
It’s a depressing time to be a lady beetle aficionado in the midwest. Most of the beetles I’ve seen around town are pesty invasives like the multi-colored lady beetle (from Asia) and the seven-spotted lady beetle (from Europe). But one native species, Cycloneda munda, is hanging on, perhaps because it is smaller than the competition and able to subsist on smaller prey. A couple weeks ago I photographed this pair enjoying an intimate moment on the fall goldenrod.
photo details: Canon MP-E 65mm 1-5x macro lens on a Canon 20D
ISO 100, f/13, 1/250 sec, flash diffused through tracing paper
Friday Ark #213…
We’ll post links to sites that have Friday (plus or minus a few days) photos of their chosen animals (photoshops at our discretion and humans only in supporting roles). Watch the Exception category for rocks, beer, coffee cups, and….? Visit all the …
[…] 20, 2008 by myrmecos I’ve blogged a lot about lady beetles recently. That’s because we have been inundated by them ever since moving to Illinois. The beetle […]