Seven-spotted Ladybug on Yucca seedpod

Taken on Saturday, 21 September 2013, when two friends and I joined a group of people from Medicine Hat College to drive a long way across the prairie to an area called the Pinhorn Grazing Lease. Yucca plants, which are not found in Alberta, had been discovered there and were being closely monitored. They spent a few hours counting every single plant and clone, how many new clones, how many old ones, how many seedpods and how many tiny exit holes from a certain insect were in each pod. Most of the plants were in enclosed "cages", the largest of which could be entered. The GPS location was recorded for every plant, and careful notes were made. Very tedious work, and I commend everyone for doing this. Have to admit that I wandered the area with my camera, photographing the plants in various stages and the surrounding scenery. We were so lucky because two of the plants were in a second bloom, whereas all the other plants had seedpods. It was a treat to be able to see Yucca flowers, and a surprise for the folks from the College. We aren't sure how these plants got where they are, but it's possible that they were brought north by Native Americans. We were very close to the border with the US and could see the beautiful Sweetgrass Hills rising from the flat prairie in the distance. A very interesting day for us and one that we were so lucky to experience.

"Coccinella septempunctata's elytra are of a red colour, but punctuated with three black spots each, with one further spot being spread over the junction of the two, making a total of seven spots, from which the species derives both its common and scientific names (from the Latin septem = "seven" and punctus = "spot").

C. septempunctata has a broad ecological range, living almost anywhere there are aphids for it to eat. Both the adults and the larvae are voracious predators of aphids, and because of this, C. septempunctata has been repeatedly introduced to North America as a biological control agent to reduce aphid numbers, and is now established in North America, and has been subsequently designated the official state insect of five different states (Delaware, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Ohio, and Tennessee). In North America, this species has outcompeted many native species, including other Coccinella." From Wikipedia.

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coccinella_septempunctata