I have recently been sent a few photos from people wondering what these strange insects are? They are all part of the ladybird life cycle. The female lays her eggs close to an aphid colony along with infertile eggs for extra food for the hatching larvae. The larvae look like small alien creatures and if you didn't know, it is not very obvious what it is going to become.
Within approximately 2 weeks the larvae with attach itself to a leaf where its skin will split along it's back. This is where the pupae cycle starts.
At this stage they start to resemble a ladybird, but have a protective coating whilst metamorphosis takes place. This only takes a couple of days before they emerge as an adult.
The whole lifecycle averages 6 weeks. 🐞