Fungus-eating Lady Beetle (Illeis galbula)

Alex spied these little jewels on Saturday evening, all over a section of pumpkin vine. "That's strange", thought I, "they're definitely not after aphids. In fact they seem to be piercing the leaves themselves." Turns out they were feeding on a fungus that's infected the pumpkin. Well that would explain the odd dead patches of vine. Not that it matters anyway; I planted the pumpkins far too late to set fruit, given the mild summer and early autumn this year. Still, the pumpkin flowers are pretty, and I know to get the seeds down earlier next year. And in the mean time, I've learnt something new about lady beetles.

One of these days I'm going to get a proper macro lens. I've picked out the one I want; there's just one little problem: it costs more than the damn camera (plus 2 kit lenses) did! I guess I should start a savings fund and keep an eye out for second hand deals.