Sparky Learns About the

Ladybug Life Cycle

ElementaryScience Program

www.espsciencetime.org

Fountas & Pinnell

DRA

K

20

1/10Copyright 2010 by the Board of Cooperative Educational Services for the Second Supervisory District of Monroe and Orleans Counties, Elementary Science Program. All rights reserved. This publication may only be reproduced for one-time classroom use. No part of this publication may be stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted or reproduced, in any form by any means, electronic, mechanical photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without the prior written permission of Monroe 2–Orleans BOCES, Elementary Science Program.

Correlation

Plant and Animal Life CyclesSparky Learns About the Ladybug Life Cycle

Written under funding from Monroe 2–Orleans BOCES by:

Antonietta Quinn, Resource Teacher Ashlee Bryant, Reading Specialist Kristen Giuliano, Reading SpecialistPaulette Reddick, Reading SpecialistDesigned and Printed by the BOCES 2 Printing and Graphics Services.

It is a warm day, and Sparky the dog is in her backyard. She walks to her favorite spot. It is a garden with her favorite flowers.

Sparky looks at a leaf. She sees something strange underneath. There are ten tiny things on the leaf. They look like small yellow jellybeans.

“What are these?” Sparky wonders. “I’ve never seen them before.”

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“Butterflies, bees, and beetles have a four stage life cycle called metamorphosis. Metamorphosis means change,” says Lucy.

Sparky loved watching the metamorphosis of the ladybugs. She enjoyed watching them grow and change.

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Sparky hears a voice. “Hello! I’m Lucy the Ladybug. Those are my eggs; be very careful,” Lucy says.

Sparky steps back so she does not harm the eggs.

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A week later, Sparky looks over and sees her friends! They are out of the pupa stage, and they are pink! After a few hours, they turn red. Finally, their spots appear.

Sparky’s friends have a new job. They still eat aphids but now they will mate and lay eggs, too. She can’t wait to watch more ladybugs grow up and start the life cycle again.

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“I just laid the eggs today. They will hatch in a week,” explains Lucy. “They are the start of a new life cycle of ladybugs.”

Sparky is really excited. She wants to see the young ladybugs hatch. She wonders what they will look like? What will they do? Sparky says she will come back soon.

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“It’s okay, Sparky,” Lucy says. “The larvae did not leave. They are attached to a leaf because they have changed to the pupa stage. The pupa’s job is to change into an adult. We will see adult ladybugs in a week.”

Sparky waits again. She really wants to see her new friends. She feels lonely.

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A week later, Sparky comes back to check on the eggs. She sees Lucy on the leaf again.

“The eggs hatched!” yells Lucy.

Sparky can’t believe her eyes! The young ladybugs don’t look like Lucy. The baby ladybugs look like little alligators. Sparky is puzzled.

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One day, Sparky goes to visit the larvae. No insects are there, and Sparky is worried.

“Where did they go?” Sparky wonders.

Lucy flies over to explain to the worried dog.

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“This is the larva stage,” Lucy says. “They won’t always look this way. This stage lasts for a few weeks, and it is a busy stage. The job of the larva is to eat and grow.”

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Sparky goes to watch the ladybug larvae every day. She sees them eat the aphids that are on the plant. She sees them grow and shed their skin as they grow. This happens many times, and it is called molting.

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