Six-spotted Zigzag Ladybird

Description:

The ladybirds shown here were photographed on some young String Beans supported by a trellis made of bamboo and nylon fishing net. The first two photos (both Cheilomenes sexmaculata) were taken a little after 9:00 am today. The third photo was taken two days ago and it shows a number of Ladybird pupae (various species) on the nylon net. I have presented these pictures like this because I noticed something interesting soon after the weather settled down and allowed us to go out of the house after Typhoon Noru. Just before the typhoon arrived, I noticed that there were many ladybird pupae and larvae on the string beans. The great majority were on the stems of the plants and just a few were on the leaves. There were also two or three pupae on the nylon net. This is what I always expect to see on our string beans when the ladybird larvae start to pupate. They always seem to have a preference for the actual plant, rather than any parts of the trellis. After the storm, what I saw was that the larvae and pupae which had been on the stems and leaves were gone. However, the number of pupae on the netting had greatly increased. I can't give a scientific explanation for this (if there is one), but I can hazard a guess. Is it possible that the leaves, which have a big surface area were thrashing around in the wind, but the netting, which has a much smaller surface area was more stable? If so, is it possible that many of the larvae migrated to the netting where they pupated? I don't know if this makes any sense, but I do know that I did not see any larvae or pupae on the actual plant after the storm and the numbers of pupae present on the netting did not appear to represent the greater numbers I had seen on the plants before the storm. I must mention that I did notice that there were large numbers of aphids, still on the stems after the storm and a small number of tiny newly hatched ladybirds were venturing onto the plants from the netting. Basically, what I think is that many larvae were probably lost to the storm because they could not hold on to the drenched leaves in the strong wind. Those which migrated to the netting may have been able to affix themselves onto the nylon twine more securely and survived .

Habitat:

These Ladybirds were spotted in our backyard vegetable plot.

Notes:

The two adult ladybirds in the pictures were very small and I think they had newly emerged from their pupae. The first is seen, still beside its exuvia and seems to be eating it. Do they do that? The second one is already in its natural habitat, on a leaf, going after the aphids.