Something I Finally Learned

The roses are putting out another flush of flowers so lately there's been some new growth, which means aphids again. It's funny how some of the roses really attract lots of aphids and others have just a few. Anyway, along with the aphids there are lots of lady bugs and lacewings.

But I saw another bug that I hadn't noticed before.

http://animals.howstuffworks.com/insects/ladybug-stages.htm#page=2

How could I have missed this creature all these years? Or perhaps I just blasted them away with the hose and didn't think about what they were.

Yep, it's a ladybug larvae - and I saw lots of them. You wonderful gardeners out there are chuckling at my obtuseness, but now I know those are what I want to see in the garden!

And today I saw several of the next phase in the ladybug life cycle: the pupa.  Soon another generation of ladybugs will be helping me keep my roses healthy!