Juli Lawrence – Rakish Gardening

August 26th, 2008

As promised, I’ve uploaded some of my beetle sex photos into the photo area. Clickie on the picture for a better view.

This was the day I was invaded by Japanese beetles. I’d had about one per day and was hand picking them and putting them into the “Can O’ Death,” which is a coffee can with soapy water. By the end of the invasion, it was smelling pretty funky.

So on this day, two Japanese beetles were coupling and I said “Wow.” I just never thought about bugs doing it, and it was bizarre in an interesting way. Before I finished saying wow, more came and landed in a sex pile. When I took this picture, there were five in the pile, and Mr. Studly marching to join in. All but one entered the Can O’ Death, and the other one got away. Hopefully to tell his friends to stay away.

And then here are two pink spotted ladybugs having sex. What was so interesting about this was that the one on bottom just kept on trucking, headed for the aphid patch. I’m assuming the one on bottom was the female. Apparently the male was a lot more interested, and she just wanted something to eat. She crawled all over the plant with that guy on top of her. These are my favorite ladybugs because of their color.

• Begonia hanging basket
• Garden update: squirrels, aphids and cucumbers
• The vegetable garden
• Japanese beetle frenzy!
• 2007 Garden Wrap-Up

Tags: beneficial insects, pests
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