What is it Wednesday: June 17, 2020

Can you identify what's in this photo?

Each Wednesday morning 

on Camp Lutherlyn's Facebook page

 the Lutherlyn Environmental Education Program posts a photo. 

Readers have all morning and afternoon 

to make their best guess about what the photo is. 

Around 6 pm LEEP provides the answer and a brief explanation.

Each week's What is it Wednesday post 

will also be posted on the Nature of Lutherlyn blog, 

 after it is posted on Facebook,

sometimes with additional bonus information. 

In addition to bringing you current editions of What is it Wednesday 

on the Nature of Lutherlyn blog, 

we will be reposting old editions,

creating a What is it Wednesday archive. 

This photo was posted as a What is it Wednesday on

June 17, 2020. 

And the answer is....

This is the larva of a ladybug. 

Like ladybug adults, the larvae live on leaves and eat smaller insects like aphids. After living and growing for 20-30 days and molting about 4 times as it gets larger, the larva attaches to the underside of a leaf and transforms into a pupa. The pupa looks a bit like a soft-bodied cross between the adult and larva stages. Inside the outer skin of the pupa, the ladybug is undergoing a major transformation, and after a few days to two weeks, the adult ladybug emerges.

Because ladybugs are such voracious eaters of pests like aphids and mites they are a great friend to have in the garden! If you see a ladybug, at any stage of its lifecycle, let it live, so it can continue to keep those pest populations under control.

Like and follow Camp Lutherlyn on Facebook, to see What is it Wednesday posts when they come out and have the opportunity to share your guesses in the comments!