Convergent Ladybird Beetles at Muir Woods

by Brian Tada

Title

Convergent Ladybird Beetles at Muir Woods

Artist

Brian Tada

Medium

Photograph - Digital Photograph

Description

Shareable link:
bit.ly/LadybirdBeetles

Exponential cuteness overload :: Convergent ladybird beetles (Hippodamia convergens) a.k.a. "ladybugs" congregate by the tens of thousands on horsetail plants at Muir Woods National Monument near Mill Valley, California.

This photo was taken in the forest on Veteran's Day in November 2015.

A park ranger informed me that these ladybird beetles arrive in large groups earlier in the year. They would swarm for a couple of days and then settle down. These ecologically beneficial visitors will stay a few more weeks into December before flying off to the Central Valley of California and elsewhere hundreds of miles away via catching the airstream, a migratory miracle in itself.

Pictured is one of many large groupings of these adorable creatures on more than a dozen horsetail plants at Muir Woods. Indeed, they are quite a spectacle to behold!

"God made the wild animals according to their species, the livestock according to their species, and everything that crawls on the ground, each according to its species. And God saw that it was good." Genesis 1:25, Tree of Life Bible

*****

Grateful to God and thankful to the Fine Art America group administrators for graciously featuring this image on the home pages of the following groups::

* BUGS BUGS AND MORE BUGS", 11.16.15
* MACRO MARVELS", 11.17.15
* IMAGES THAT EXCITE YOU", 11.17.15
* THE 200 CLUB, 12.26.16
* ONLY LADYBUGS, 04.16.19
* ABC GROUP, "H is for Huddle" theme, 03.04.21
* GO TAKE A HIKE PHOTOGRAPHY GROUP, 08.22.21
* 1,000 VIEWS ON 1 IMAGE, 11.15.21
* 1000 TO 1999 VIEWS, LIMIT1 PER DAY, 11.20.21
* ALL ABOUT THE COLOR RED, 03.06.22
* ONLY LADYBUGS, 09.24.22

Special Feature:
* 'Pick of the week' in the 'All About the Color RED' group, June 2022. Special thank you to group administrator Dianne Cowen for choosing this image for the honor. God bless you!

Contest finish:
* 3rd place in the Ladybugs contest on Fine Art America, 02.19.22. Thank you to Brooks Garten Hauschild for hosting the contest, and to those who voted. God bless you!


*****

Scripture taken from the Holy Scriptures, Tree of Life Version. Copyright © 2011, 2012, 2013 by the Messianic Jewish Family Bible Society. Used by permission of the Messianic Jewish Family Bible Society. "TLV" and "Tree of Life Version" and "Tree of Life Holy Scriptures" are trademarks registered in the United States Patent and Trademark office by the Messianic Jewish Family Bible Society.

Photo copyright © 2015 Brian Tada. All rights reserved. To the glory of God. Downloading, duplicating, distributing and/or altering this photo without the express written permission of the photographer is prohibited.

Uploaded

November 15th, 2015

Colors

Embed

Share

Tags