Sibling Canabilism Among the Common Spotted Ladybird

The macabre practice of cannibalism is rife in Tasmania. It’s been occurring since long before the days o the infamous convict Alexander Pearce and continues right up to the present day. It takes place not only in the remote wilderness areas but even in some of the more affluent suburbs of our cities and towns. Read on if you dare.

A while back I took photos of some ladybirds on my nectarine tree. The tree was covered in all stages of the ladybird life cycle.

_{( All photos, videos, and text on this blog are by @mostly.nature )}

_{Adult Harmonia conformis}

_{Newly hatched ladybirds – Harmonia conformis}

I knew something was wrong with the above photo but it took a few moments for it to dawn on me that the eggs in the photo have not hatched. After hatching, many insects feed on their own egg shells for their first meal. In the photo above you can see that the newly hatched larvae are actually feeding on unhatched eggs.

_{Note the empty (white) egg shells on the left}

A few centimeters away you can see the empty eggs shells where the larvae have come from. They have then moved along to feed on their unhatched siblings.

Sibling cannibalism among ladybirds is not unusual. In fact it can be quite common, particularly if there is a shortage of food. It’s a mechanism which appears to allow at least some of the ladybirds to get a good start in life as opposed to them all going hungry and dying off.

_{Larval Moult}

This one is doing well. It has shed it’s skin and entered another stage in it’s development. You have to wonder how many siblings and cousins have helped it to get to this stage.

_{A larger (probably final instar) larva.}

_{A pupa which looks ready to emerge}

_{A newly emerged adult.}

In the newly emerged adult above you will notice the spots seem a bit faded. It will sit with its's wings outstretched for several hours. During this time the spots will take on their full colour.

It was great to see the full life cycle of the ladybird all laid out before me on my nectarine tree. However, somehow they don't seem as innocent as they once did.

_{Further reading:}

<sub>* Osawa, N. 1992.
Sibling cannibalism in the ladybird beetle Harmonia axyridis - Fitness consequences for mother and offspring.
Researches on Population Ecology 34, 45-55.
* Nakamura, K.; Miura, K.; Jong, P.W. de; Ueno, H. (2006)
Comparison of the incidence of sibling cannibalism between male-killing Spiroplasma infected and uninfected clutches of a predatory ladybird beetle, Harmonia axyridis (Coleoptera: Coccinellidae)
European Journal of Entomology 103 . - p. 323 - 326.</sub>

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