Ladybugs aren't so cute when they're born. We may not even recognize them. They hatch from eggs and look like tiny alligators. The new bug is called a larva, and it takes about 21 days for it to grow up to be a ladybug beetle.
Larva crawl out of their eggs and begin to look for food. Ladybug larvae look like tiny alligators- and they bite! After a few days the little larvae begin to grow and soon they shed their skins. This is called "molting" and it happens several times.
After a couple of weeks of growing, the larvae will start to change into something that looks like a shrimp. it will attach itself to a leaf and hardly move at all.
When the metamorphosis is complete ,the ladybug splits its pupa and emerges looking very different.
For the first few hours the newborn ladybug remains pale and soft.
It's shell quickly hardens. Its colour becomes brighter. Now it looks just like its mother- a perfect adult ladybug beetle.
What seems like amazing magic is one wonderful way the natural world works; ladybug metamorphosis.
