Hello lovers of everything with chewing mouthparts,

So these days you'll spot a lot of lady beetles on the plants. It is the time of the year, when they seek mates.

Here is a pair I caught in the act.



We all know that insects have 6 legs, but it is interesting to watch them walk, one leg at a time.


Some beetles especially the lady beetles will use reflex bleeding as a strategy to get away from predators. Reflex bleeding involves the beetle deliberately ejecting hemolymph(blood equivalent) mixed with some unpleasant chemicals to make it unpalatable to the predator. In the video below, you can see the orange liquid it leaves on my fingertips, when it feels threatened.



Lady Beetles are fascinating in the way they have mastered the art of origami to fold their wings under the elytra(hardened forewing).

Over here you can see one opening it's elytra before taking off. Observe how it raises its front legs towards the sky just before the flight.


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