Ladybird, ladybird

Polished Lady Beetle
(Cycloneda munda)

Cicadas may be the trendy insect this summer, but ladybugs have a special place in many people's hearts. Their rotund form, bright colors, and simple patterns make them easy for even children to pick out in a crowd. Generally pictured as shiny, round, red beetles with black spots on their hard forewings (elytra), ladybugs can actually come in various colors and may have many or no spots at all. Some may even have stripes! Their pronotum (the shield-like structure behind their head) has different patterns, often in black and white, that can be useful to help identify different species.

(The common name "ladybug" is convenient and will be used here, though technically only around half of all ladybugs are "ladies" and none of them are true "bugs" in an entomological sense. They are more properly called "ladybird beetles" or "lady beetles.")

Convergent Lady Beetle
(Hippodamia convergens)

BugGuide notes a total of 81 species occurring in Iowa. iNaturalist shows more than 20 different species of lady beetles spotted in Iowa, with the most popular by far being the non-native Asian Lady Beetle (Harmonia axyridis), possibly due to its habit of overwintering in human homes making them more visible than other species, which may overwinter in sheltered places such as under rocks or bark, or in leaf litter or protected snags. Ladybugs will overwinter as adults, sometimes in groups.

Like butterflies and bees, ladybugs are holometabolous, meaning they undergo complete metamorphosis from their larval stage to adulthood, with a pupal stage in between. Ladybug larvae are often described as "alligator-like": long, segmented, and spiky, often sporting similar red-and-black coloration to the adults but otherwise little resembling their future selves. Both larvae and adults eat aphids and other pest species, making them welcome visitors for gardeners. 

The bright red and black elytra of many species are an example of aposematic coloration, warning potential predators that their potential meal may be toxic (or at least have a foul taste). Nevertheless, ladybugs may be preyed upon by frogs, birds, spiders, and other insects including dragonflies and ants. 

Seven-spotted Lady Beetle
(Coccinella septempunctata)

Although many species of ladybugs are common, a few have experienced drastic declines in their populations in recent decades. The Lost Ladybug Project is a citizen science program that attempts to document the Nine-spotted Lady Beetle (Coccinella novemnotata) as well as the Two-spotted Lady Beetle (Adalia bipunctata), both of which are thought to be vexed by the common refrain of habitat loss combined with competition from introduced species (including the common Seven-spotted Lady Beetle pictured at right). 

All the ladybugs pictured here were spotted over the course of an hour along the Greenway one recent sunny day. 

Ladybug larva with aphids

Sources/Additional Reading:

• Lost Ladybug Project
• Bug Guide: Family Coccinellidae
• Cornell University - Biological Control: Lady Beetles
• Xerces Society: Nine-spotted Lady Beetle
• University of Minnesota Extension: Lady beetles

May Miscellany

May is drawing to a close, and I've got a backlog of photos that haven't made their way into a post of their own. They are perhaps not quite crisp enough, or interesting enough, to rate sharing individually (and one was disturbing enough that I didn't want to spring it on folks unawares...consider yourself warned before you reach the end of this post, if you are a sensitive soul!), but worth noting as we move through the seasons along the Sycamore Greenway. 

May is prime time for spotting warblers, as many pass through on their migration north, including the Nashville Warbler (above left). Yellow Warblers (above right) will stay in the area through the summer.

Dangling catkins of Bur Oak, with tender young leaves.

Floral assortment: showy white clusters of Black Locust flowers, tiny white flowers of low-growing Purslane Speedwell, and yellow flowers of Ragwort.

A Pearl Crescent butterfly nectars at white clover. 

Spiky inflorescences of sedges along the trail.

Afternoon sun lights a male Northern Cardinal as he sings overhead. 

Mobbing of larger birds by smaller birds--usually hawks and other raptors being harried by blackbirds, grackles, and others--is often a pre-emptive strategy to call attention to and drive away a threatening individual before it can cause harm. I've often seen a hapless Red-tailed Hawk, perched or in flight, divebombed by much smaller birds. Crows, while lacking the grasping talons and pointy, hooked beak of a raptor, are also subject to mobbing--and with good reason. Crows have a diverse diet, ranging from carrion to insects to garbage and dog food, but they will also take advantage of nesting birds to snatch their tender babies right out of the nest. 

Despite the fierce pursuit of both Red-winged Blackbirds and Common Grackles, this crow never dropped its nefarious loot as it sped away from the scene of the crime with its trio of cawing companions. 

"Oh look, another bottle..."

Trash is a near-constant along the Sycamore Greenway, particularly in the areas near existing neighborhoods, where stray items from overturned recycle and trash bins can easily be carried to the stormwater drains or blown into the basins of the trail. We often schedule trash cleanups around these areas to help keep the trash in check (the north end is long overdue, and thankfully will be a target of the South District's April 21 Team Up to Clean Up volunteer event).

I've always considered the long "spine" of the trail, between Birds in Flight and the Sycamore Apartments, to be relatively clean by comparison, with no garbage cans nearby and far from busy roads. A few bottles tossed by careless pedestrians or cyclists, maybe, or cans deposited near the benches by visitors relaxing maybe a little too much. After finding a few one-liter "Clear American" bottles of flavored water tossed into the brush, I resolved to bring a trash bag next time I was out with my camera so I could pick them up.

Just a few bottles, right? It's not like those trashy basins collecting neighborhood litter. Just a quick pick-up here and there, then back to taking pictures. Well...no. 

Many of those bottles visible from the trail were accompanied by two or three others hidden from view by grass or leaves. The camera was quickly abandoned (a lesson in not trying to multitask on the trail...focus on the task at hand, whether it be seeing nature, collecting trash, or getting some exercise!) and the trash bag soon filled.

Which is fine. I don't mind taking care of the trail that gives us so much in return. But this cleanup was particularly frustrating in comparison to the regular pickups on either end of the trail, which can easily yield ten times as many full bags of trash, for one reason: this trash didn't find its way to the trail accidentally, the result of a windy trash day or being blown off the back of a passing vehicle. It was purposely thrown or left there by the very people who are enjoying the benefits of the full length of trail.

I was reminded of a recent article I read about the Missoula Bag Man, who tirelessly picks up dog deposits from the trail he uses, bagging them and leaving the evidence visible for folks who allow their dogs to do their business along the trail (including the less-than-sympathetic author of the article). The article frames the Bag Man as a bit of a zealot, looking for excuses to shame those not behaving in the way he deems appropriate. 

I can't say that I haven't been tempted to do the same, both with bagged dog poo tossed into the brush as well as the bottles and cans, just to make visible the scope of the problem. But the point isn't necessarily to shame the perpetrators. It's to take care of these places that we love. Fixing damage isn't about shaming those who cause the damage; it's about restoring something to the way it is supposed to be. 

Whether it's a national park or a neighborhood trail, our open spaces deserve better. 

There are a number of upcoming opportunities to help clean up litter around the Sycamore Greenway and elsewhere in our community! 

• Sunday, April 14: Pick-Up 2 Clean-Up in downtown Iowa City hosted by the Downtown City Gardens, Iowa City Downtown District, and the Iowa City Litter Crew meetup group.
• Sunday, April 21: South District Team Up to Clean Up, hosted by several community organizations including Sycamore Greenway Friends
• Monday, April 22: Earth Day Highway 6 Cleanup hosted by Iowa City Landfill & Recycling.

And of course every walk is an opportunity to grab that bottle or can that ended up far from where it belongs.