Another Black Button - _TNY_9913
Just like the black ladybird with small red markings from yesterday (here: www.flickr.com/photos/tinyturtle/53949823946/), this one was taken on the same trip but is a different (if still related) species.
This one is a pine ladybird (Exochomus quadripustulatus), or pine lady beetle, and just like it's cousin, it is quite small at around 3-4 mm (.14") and feed on aphids and scale insects.
This one I found running over the face of a large cut-down tree so it was a bit of a sports-photography moment with trying to shoot a moving and very small beetle and get the face in focus at 1.8:1 magnification, but I got two working shots in the end.
Another Black Button - _TNY_9913
Just like the black ladybird with small red markings from yesterday (here: www.flickr.com/photos/tinyturtle/53949823946/), this one was taken on the same trip but is a different (if still related) species.
This one is a pine ladybird (Exochomus quadripustulatus), or pine lady beetle, and just like it's cousin, it is quite small at around 3-4 mm (.14") and feed on aphids and scale insects.
This one I found running over the face of a large cut-down tree so it was a bit of a sports-photography moment with trying to shoot a moving and very small beetle and get the face in focus at 1.8:1 magnification, but I got two working shots in the end.