photography | Mass Audubon – Your Great Outdoors

Everyone loves to catch a glimpse of ladybugs—especially gardeners. Ladybugs (which are not technically bugs, but beetles) feed on pesky aphids that harm apple, peach, and plum trees, as well as maples and pines.

Both native and non-native species of lady beetles abound in New England, but the ones seen inside and outside homes in huge numbers during the fall are non-native lady beetles (Harmonia axyridis) introduced from Asia. How the non-native ladybug came to the United States is still a matter of some debate, but in any case, you can now find them in all New England states, and they apparently do no harm to our native lady beetle species.

Learn more about ladybugs/lady beetles, including what to do if they have invaded your home this fall, on our website.

To celebrate these harmless, beautiful, beneficial beetles, here are five photos submitted to past years of our Picture This: Your Great Outdoors photo contest.

Ladybugs © Rose Grant

Ladybug © Allyson Via

Ladybug © Eric Magnussen

Ladybug © Ashok Boghani

Ladybug © Krystyana Roman

Many backyard birders are surprised to see this traditional “herald of spring” hopping about in the depths of winter. Although many of our robins do migrate (hence the species name migratorius), an increasing number of these red-breasted songsters are passing the winter in Massachusetts each year. Winter robins rely on berries and other small fruits to survive the winter, so if you’d like to attract them to your yard, consider planting more native fruiting plants.

Learn more about how robins survive the cold months of winter on our website, and enjoy these five lovely photos of robins from past years of our Picture This: Your Great Outdoors photo contest.

A Mass Audubon Blog

Tag Archives: photography

Take 5: Lovely Ladybugs

Take 5: Ravenous Robins