Shared Moment: Stunning Ladybug Still Life

Spots and lines of a bug and its perch capture the imagination of a photographer

  • Photograph by Zelma Hall
  • PhotoZone
  • Mar 30, 2016

IN REGAL REPOSE, a lone convergent lady beetle—named for the two converging white lines on its head—rests on a frond of western sword fern in a cool corner of California’s Muir Woods National Monument. Dotted with orange spore sacs, or sori, the flamboyant fern caught the eye of amateur botanist and flower photographer Zelma Hall. While on a walk in the woods, she rounded a corner and was “intrigued” to see massive clusters of lady beetles on every surface. Yet this solitary beetle was the literal standout of the day.


To submit images for consideration, please send to nationalwildlifephoto@gmail.com with “Shared Moment” in the subject line.


More from National Wildlife magazine and NWF:

Luck be a Ladybug
Ranger Rick: Lady Bugs

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