Today’s post was made on a local Missouri prairie a week or so ago. While hiking the prairie and photographing wildflowers, I came upon this Lady Beetle … yes, beetle … that was wandering over a prairie plant. Most people call these Lady Bugs, but they do not reside in the bug family. They are beetles. Brings back lots of memories from my early days when I was training to become a Master Gardener. Our “Insect” class was taught by a wonderful teacher from the University of Missouri, and she drilled and drilled into our heads, “These are not Lady Bugs! They are Lady Beetles!”. So, whenever I come across one of these things, I always picture her standing in front of our class, “scolding” us to remember that these are not bugs, but beetles!
Here are a couple of images I made of the “Lady Bug That Wasn’t”:
Another wonderful day on the prairie!