By Susan Milius
When food gets scarce, ladybugs lay extra dud eggs that can end up as emergency rations for youngsters that do hatch.
“Ladybugs are really cannibalistic at lots of life stages,” says Jennifer C. Perry of the University of Toronto. Larvae often eat infertile eggs as well as eggs that would have developed into their siblings. Perry says that she wondered whether the nonviable eggs were just fertility glitches or an adaptation to food shortages.
She tallied the eggs laid by female multicolored Asian ladybugs (Harmonia axyridis) given plenty of aphids. After the ladybugs reached peak health, she skimped on the rations for some of them for 24 hours.