• Monday-What'sUP November 8 - 12:44 am

A walk along the shores of Lake Superior this time of year requires you to bundle up against the chill and the winds, but it is so worth the extra effort. Just ask Joyce Tormala, who always manages to spot something interesting when she visits the beach. Lucky for us she shares her bounty of discoveries, like a few remaining leaves just hanging on to the bare branches. Look closely and you'll see they really don't belong to the fallen tree on the water's edge. Those leaves aren't the only color left on the beach though. Looks like the ladybugs (and friend) are huddling together to gather the remaining warmth from the sun warmed rock. They must have forgotten their warm coats!

Good morning from Mishawaka IN. I'm seeing spots before my eyes. Whats that green guy doing in there? Have a good day everyone.

MORNING .. under MAGNIFICENTs picture!!!

I like the picture of desolation bouncing off Superior. The ladybugs are terrific too. Thanks Joyce.

Here is a small report on the storm that blew thru here yesterday.....Many boats anchored at docks along the Detroit River waiting on weather. The river has dropped about 38-inches (yes thirty eight inches!) with the strong winds from the WSW all day. The Dossin museum weather station had a gust of 57 mph on the webcam. This appeared on the Boatnerd.com site.

Are those Lady Bugs or Asian Beetles? See: http://www.extension.umn.edu/projects/yardandgarden/ygbriefs/e615ladybeetles.html.

Those are those nasty Asian Beetles. Not welcome here in the UP Hey!

Nice pics today! I would like to see a shot of that tree in few more weeks when it is covered in ice.Maybe its not a problem up there,but here the lady bugs are invading the house,they can really be quite nasty.

Lady bug or Asian beetle, they're little buggers. The vacuum never stops running! :)
They sure look beautiful in the photo up there, but boy, when they move in for the winter...

... guess then you're not that happy. On the other hand, they're supposed to eat plant-louses (aphids?), so whoever has a problem with these might indeed welcome the bugs, which I'd assume would be the lady-bugs, not the asians.
Here, they're called Marybeetles - a parallel to lady-bugs?

I knew it! As soon as I saw the pictures posted on todays pasty cam site, i said to my self that those have got to be Joyce Tormala's photos and I was right! Awesome shots! those lady bugs gathered on the rock in an amazing pic! Too cool!

For your curiosity: Ladybug is known in Norway as the "Mary-hen"(Marihone) and in Sweden as the "key-girl" (nyckelpiga). Both names, and probably the name "Marybeetle" too, are nicknames on the Virgin Mary. Old folk-tales tells us that Virgin Mary and St.Peter took care of the KEYS TO HEAVEN. I don't remember the whole background-story about why this little bug got this name - but maybe some one else out there does so?!
Hope everyone have had a great weekend. I had the opportunity to meet my dear bro Christer and his wife Debra (Marttila of UP) and their son Levi Clarence. Levi is only 11 months old, but started to walk about a month ago. Cute little one!! A good day to all of you - enjoy the fall!

Sofial -
That's a neat story, maybe I should appreciate them more, huh? :)
Debbie is my distant cousin. You should email me if you want to talk.

Remember the song from Sesame Street about the Ladybugs 12 at the Ladybugs' Picnic?

...One two three
Four five six
Seven eight nine
Ten eleven twelve
And they all played games
At the ladybugs' picnic

They had twelve sacks so they ran sack races
They fell on their backs and they fell on their faces
The ladybugs 12
At the ladybugs' picnic...

:)

I think you're right on that one, Sofial. The way they're called in german suggests more a connection to the Virgin Mother than to any other Mary.
Just my thoughts.

I have NEVER seen anything like that! Those ladybugs are awesome! (I've always liked them, but this picture is GREAT!) Must be a U.P. thing!

Alex: We have plenty lady bugs here in Lower
Michigan too. In fact my outside windows are
covered with them. Some how a few of them manage
to get indoors. I just leave them be..they help
get rid of the bugs on the household plants.

Beautiful pics Joyce.

Yep, those are Asian beetles in the pics...and not lady bugs. These little pests come in off the great lakes, as the weather cools...and once in the house, they go for the light fixtures, for the warmth. Hubby's job today was to clean all the light fixtures in the house, due to the beetles...what a mess.
One way that you can tell the Asian beetles from lady bugs, is that the beetles' spots are not even/ or a mirror image of each other on both halves of their shells. And, the beetles bite...found that out last week, when one stung me while I was hanging the laundry on the line.

Yes,these little beetles bite. We've all felt the pinch. They do more than swarm around our heads while we try to mind our own business. We passed gazillions of them on the beach. There were piles of them on the rocks. This is a small cluster,but the green runt caught my attention. They were constantly in motion,in and out of focus. I was with one human and two canine hikers that day,so I wasn't able to do my usual thing,which is squatting or lying in the sand,waiting for them to strike a pose. More than a few have wound up in my vacuum bag too.
All my life I've known there's never a boring day at the beach,but today I learned a few interesting facts about the little beetles. Thanks,folks!