Scaling September
Meet the Scale-Eating Ladybird!
Although the name sounds pretty harsh, this little lady is a great one to have in your yard. They came to the US, via Australia to California, sometime in the late 1800’s and have munched their way across the country ever since.
One of their preferred meals consists of a very small creature called, Scale. Scale, originally from Indonesia, is not native to North America and therefore it has no native predators here…until these little ladies showed up! Scale consumes our Queen Palms, with very little to combat this invasion, the Scale-Eating Ladybirds are a welcome resident!
Their dark purple wings and dark brown heads make for a very different look…no spots, just a big appetite!
References:
By Barry Walter - https://www.inaturalist.org/photos/245515957, CC BY 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=136680469
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