The new generation of ladybirds

At this time of year there is so much to see and so many things to photograph that it is hard to keep up.  Over the past few weeks, and especially the past few days I have seen many more ladybirds.  Mid summer is the time to see larvae, pupae and newly emerged adults, all at the same time.  I found two pupae in the garden and was able to bring them in to watch what happened.  The first was a 14-spot ladybird.  To tell the whole story, here is a 14-spot larva, not from the same individual.

This is the pupa.

The emergence happened while I was out but this was shortly afterwards.  The ladybird is still standing on the exuvia and hasn't developed its spots.

Here are the changes over the next 24 hours.  Then it went back into the meadow to join all the others.

The second pupa was a harlequin ladybird.  Again first a larva.

This is the pupa.

This time emergence happened overnight.  This is the ladybird first thing in the morning and over the next five hours.

Then it too went into the meadow.  Its colour would have continued to develop over a few days to bright red.  I have seen lots of other ladybirds recently and will post a few photos soon.