Ladybugs are often considered symbols of good luck and many people look at them as cute. Consequently, you have probably never considered them as menacing (assuming that you are not an aphid), but that is the descriptor that came to mind when I first looked at this head-on image of a ladybug that I photographed yesterday.
Perhaps I am just not used to looking eye to eye with a ladybug, but this one seems to have a deadly serious look on its face, like it was not happy that I was disturbing it.
I took the shot in my neighbor’s garden, using a macro lens and a hand-held diffuser to cut down on the intensity of the sunlight. Although I stopped down the lens to get some additional depth of field, the back portion of the ladybug, including its rear legs, are out of focus, which helps to draw attention to the face.
The change in seasons means that I will probably be featuring fewer birds in my blog than during the winter, and a whole lot more insects and flowers.
Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved
Mike Powell 
Great shot. Never saw one up this close.
Thanks. I really enjoy shooting macro and this ladybug was positioned in a way that let me get really close.
I’ve never thought of ladybugs in that light before, but I can certainly see where you’re coming from! Grrr!!! 🙂
Ladybugs are such amazing creatures. I bring them into my garden from time to time to eat aphids on the roses. They do a wonderful job…they are greatly appreciated in my book. Wonderful photo.
Nice macro! I once worked for some people who ordered a box of ladybugs for their garden. I opened the box, set it down, and watched as every one of the 1000 ladybugs flew away.
Thanks. I didn’t even know that you could order ladybugs by the box. In this case, I only saw a couple of them. A few weeks ago I noticed some ladybugs-to-be in the pupal stage, so I figured there would be a few ladybugs in my neighbors’ garden by now. For the macro shot, I had my camera on a tripod, but it’s still pretty tough to get a good shot with such a narrow depth of field. If the ladybug moves, as it did repeatedly, the shot goes out of focus.
She looks angry! Very good macro shot, Mike 🙂
Thanks. Usually my subjects enjoy the experience more than this ladybug did.
Yes I have found they look and seem quite different up close and personal.
I found your blog post by searching for “menacing ladybug” ~ because I took a picture of one today, and it raised up some of its appendages as if it wanted to attack me. The only thing I can figure is that it saw its own reflection in my camera’s lens.
That sounds pretty cool. I love ladybugs, but haven’t seen one in quite some time.