Pupa on milkweed - Harmonia axyridis

Thanks

Moved from Lady Beetles.
It made me scratch my head too. I didn't want to believe that it was this ordinary species. Oh, well!
Probably, it is rather uncommon to find immature stages of this species this time of the year this far north; although this one didn't lack food.

… Beatriz Moisset, 2 November, 2009 - 9:29am

late-season immatures

I was finding active early-instar larvae w/in the past 2 weeks in the city, which is usually about 10 degrees warmer than the suburbs and rural or parkland areas. When I checked the locations after getting back from Cape May I didn't see larvae or pupae, though, and the aphid populations are definitely shrinking.

This is the latest immature stage of any lady beetle on BG above the PA border. There have been quite a few larvae and pupae posted in October in the Northeast this year, vs. only two in previous years. I wonder if there's a temperature or weather-related reason. Other late-season species seem to have thrived too, many of my non-entomologist friends and my parents' neighbors have commented on the huge numbers of woolly bears this year.

… Abigail M. Parker, 2 November, 2009 - 9:49am

Incredibly dark H. axyridis

Wow, that is the darkest pupa I've seen of anything but a Chilocorus species. I've heard that late-in-the-year insects tend to be darker, maybe because dark colors absorb more heat - looks like that may apply to pupae, too.

Introduced pest or not, I think it would be interesting to collect this particular pupa and see what the adult looks like - if it's also darker than normal, or more heavily maculate, or otherwise different from the medium-orange, small-spotted adults I'm used to seeing in southeastern PA, northern Delaware, and the Jersey shore.

Regardless of what happens to the pupa, I think this is a keeper for the H. axyridis BG images - sure, we have a ton of 'em, but no pupa anywhere near as dark as this. From the thumbnail I wasn't even thinking H. axyridis, but those branched tubercles on the larval "skin" give it away. (A few are triple-branched - that seems fairly common in 4th instars, but usually not as thick or prominent as these.)

… Abigail M. Parker, 2 November, 2009 - 9:16am

Winter ladybugs

The adults I have seen around here recently looking for wintering places look no different from the summer ones, with the same range of spotting.
Also, I saw some in Argentina last winter and it was the same thing. Ladybugs in Flickr. Of course I didn't submit them here.

… Beatriz Moisset, 4 November, 2009 - 6:44pm

Another thought on color

"I've heard that late-in-the-year insects tend to be darker, maybe because dark colors absorb more heat . . . "

Camouflage, too? Fall foliage is darker than summer foliage.

… G Whiz, 2 November, 2009 - 9:33am

Yes, hadn't thought of that

There's a lot more bark and soil to blend into, too, with trees losing their leaves and herbaceous plants dying back. Bright warning colors may also be less effective now than in the warm, bug-filled summer months when there are a lot of tastier meals for predators to choose from; with very few bugs out in the open now, bad-tasting prey may be much better than none.

Probably the biggest predator of H. axyridis pupae is H. axyridis larvae - I don't know if color is a factor in their finding eggs, other larvae, and pupae to cannibalize, but if it is, this pupa is more likely to escape their notice.

… Abigail M. Parker, 2 November, 2009 - 9:57am