Look who is biting me in the garden. A hungry little alligator. Actually, a ladybug larva. You may know that ladybugs are ravenous eaters of aphids and other garden pests, but it’s this young form of the ladybug that eats the most. All the larvae do is eat. So when they crawl on you, they start nibbling.
After they are stuffed, they attach to a leaf and pupate. Here is one I found on a geranium. Their bodies scrunch up and change. It’s a process that takes between three days and two weeks. It all depends on temperature.
Time-lapse of the ladybug life cycle from egg to adult. Last egg that hatches? Maybe close your eyes.
~Debbie