Ladybirds
I hadn't realised until recently that there are 46 species of ladybird resident in Britain. Only 26 of these have the spotty, round look that most of us are familiar with. There is the seven spot red with black spots and there are also orange, yellow, brown, black and white and they also come with stripes, patches and streaks. The seven spot ladybird lays tiny yellow oval shaped eggs near aphid colonies. The eggs hatch into larvae about 1mm in length. It eats up to 60 aphids a day and within a few weeks is 6mm in length. The larvae has a grey/black body with bristles and tufts and yellow patches. It sheds its skin four times as it grows. When the larva is fully grown it sticks itself to a leaf (or some other surface) by its tail. It then sheds its larvae skin and becomes a pupa. Within a week or two the new adult finally emerges. The pupa case splits open and the beetle climbs out. At this stage the beetle is a yellow colour. Within hours the first sign of