Garden Notes

What Does This Tiny Garden “Alligator” Become?

A dark, bristly insect is making its way along a stem. Its adult form is probably much more familiar.

Dark gray lady beetle larva with orange markings and short bristles on a green stem.

Larval stage · Photograph by Katja Schulz

What am I looking at?

This is a lady beetle larva. Lady beetles are also called ladybugs, and their younger stage can look remarkably different from the adult.

Many larvae have an elongated, tapered body, dark coloring with orange or yellow markings, and three pairs of legs near the front. Those are useful details to notice, but they are not enough to identify every insect or name its species. University of Maryland Extension

The familiar face comes later

Orange adult lady beetle with black spots and black-and-white markings behind the head, resting on a plant.

Adult stage · Photograph by Katja Schulz

The orange, spotted adult makes the connection easier to see. Lady beetles develop through four stages: egg, larva, pupa and adult. The larva passes through a pupal stage before the adult emerges. Cornell Entomology

Why a closer look is worth it

Many garden lady beetles eat aphids as larvae as well as adults. An unfamiliar insect on a plant may therefore be hunting other insects. But the family includes plant-feeding species, too, including Mexican bean beetles and squash beetles. A ladybug-shaped adult is not a universal guarantee of a helpful garden visitor. Cornell Entomology

A small checklist for your next garden walk

Before assuming an unfamiliar insect is a pest:

  • Take a clear photograph without disturbing it.

  • Notice its shape, markings and where its legs attach.

  • Record the plant and what you actually see it doing.

  • Compare your observations with a university extension guide. If you are still unsure, ask your local extension service for identification help.

You do not need to name every visitor to start noticing more of the garden around you.

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Photograph credits

Both photographs are by Katja Schulz, licensed under CC BY 2.0: “Convergent Lady Beetle Larva” and “Convergent Lady Beetle”. Photos resized for the page, otherwise unchanged.