Ladybug Barley

Whatever this is, it’s all over the place. And I’ve found pretty much all the lady bugs to be had in NYC in it recently.

Seven-spotted.

Fourteen-spotted.

Asian (larva stage).

An interesting variation on the Two-spotted. (For a hot naturalist moment, I thought I had an unfamiliar species.)

Variegated.

Not sure whose larva this is.

Since you’re here, two more variations on the Two-spotted (above and below). Confusing at first since they look so different. These were not found on the barley, but nearby on some big Princess Tree leaves.

Looks like this one is eating an aphid.

Which is what the ladybugs are hunting in the grain.

And one more, since we’re collecting lady bugs: Convergent. I don’t see these often; this one as at the Narrows Botanical Gardens last week.

And… back to the very productive barley: what seems to be a Variegated Ground Spider/Sergiolus capulatus.