Last summer a ladybug landed on my laundry which was drying on a rack on my balcony. I had never seen a black ladybug with red spots before . . . an inverted ladybug! I managed to take a picture before she flew off.

And then yesterday, I saw Gego swatting at something on my floor. I turned on the light and found a little orange ladybug with white spots, which I had also never seen before. I scooped her onto an envelope and took her out to my balcony. I placed her on one of my flowers there. She was moving around pretty quickly so I couldn’t get her into focus for long, but I did my best:

Apparently these little beetles are native to Europe and Asia and over here they’re called orange ladybirds. They’re very beautiful. I’m glad I was able to save this one from Gego’s wrath.