There are many different species of Ladybugs. Some have no spots, some have 2 or 7 or 13, or in the case of this one, many spots!

It figures I'd find this Ladybug pupa at dusk when I'd have to use a flash to get a picture! This finishes out the "Ladybug Metamorphosis Series," so I had to get a picture of it. In the pupa phase the insect is changing from a wingless larva to a winged adult. The spiky discarded larval skin can just be seen on the right side of the pupa's abdomen. The orange and black coloration is a warning to any predators that even in this phase the ladybug is distasteful.

This Ladybug had just come out of its pupa case, it was hiding underneath the leaf drying its wings when I found it. What a lucky find! If I had been a few minutes earlier, I may have been able to watch it emerge from the pupa case.