8-5 Beetles and Aphids

 8-5

Convergent Lady Beetles are doing the two things that Lady Beetles do well: creating more lady beetles and eating aphids. In this case the aphids are Oleander Aphids which migrate from south to north recolonizing these latitudes annually. Migration for this species is one way. This far north, they all die come winter. Oleander aphids are common on milkweeds and sequester toxins from that host that make them distasteful to predators. Their bright yellow color is believed to be a warning.

John