Mountain Lakes Wildlife

01/13/2026

Reposting this to help remind everyone that Growth doesn't always look the same, it's different in every step, and that's totally okay. Just keep on climbing, and take a step forward. 🦋😊

01/04/2026

Many native bees spend winter asleep in stems, leaves, and underground burrows. A quiet garden helps them wake up in spring!

🌱 Leave dead plant stems standing; they shelter mason and leafcutter bees.
🌍 Avoid disturbing bare soil; mining and sweat bees rest underground.
🍂 Keep some leaf litter; bumblebee queens seek shelter for winter.
🚫 Skip winter tilling; dormant bee larvae stay safe when undisturbed.
🌳 Leave soft, aging wood; cavity-nesting bees use logs for protection.
🌾 Go light on mulch; open patches help ground-nesting bees emerge in spring.

These winter guests are often the first pollinators in your garden each year! 🐝

10/28/2025

🐞✨ Ever wondered about the amazing journey of the common ladybug? That cute little red beetle in your garden has one of the most incredible life stories in the insect world!

We're diving deep into the life cycle of the Coccinella septempunctata, the classic seven-spotted ladybug. It’s a story of complete transformation in four fascinating stages!

STAGE 1: The Egg 🥚

It all begins when a female ladybug lays a cluster of tiny, bright yellow, oval-shaped eggs. She's a smart mom—she almost always lays them on the underside of a leaf, right in the middle of an aphid colony (a.k.a. the future baby's food source!). A single female can lay hundreds of eggs in her lifetime.

STAGE 2: The Larva 🐛 (The "Tiny Alligator"!)

This is the stage that surprises most people! What hatches from the egg looks nothing like a ladybug.

Instead, a tiny, spiky, elongated creature emerges. This is the larva, and it looks more like a tiny alligator than a cute beetle. This stage is all about one thing: EATING.

The ladybug larva is a voracious predator. It crawls around the plant, hunting down and devouring soft-bodied insects like aphids, mites, and scale. A single larva can eat up to 400 aphids before it's ready for the next stage! As it eats and grows, it will shed its skin (molt) several times. This is your garden's #1 defender!

STAGE 3: The Pupa 🤎 (The Transformation)

Once the larva has eaten enough, it finds a safe, sheltered spot, like a leaf or stem, and attaches itself by its tail. It sheds its skin one last time to reveal the pupa.

The pupa is a motionless, helmet-shaped case. It might look dormant, but inside, a miraculous transformation is happening. The larva's body is completely reorganizing, developing wings, a hard shell, and its adult features. This stage usually lasts for about one to two weeks.

STAGE 4: The Adult 🐞 (The Beetle We Know!)

Finally, the pupal case splits open, and the adult ladybug emerges!

When it first comes out, it’s soft, pale, and yellowish-orange, with no spots at all. It will rest for a few hours as its body pumps fluid into its wings and its new shell (called the "elytra") hardens and darkens. Slowly, the familiar bright red color and seven black spots appear.

Once it's ready, the adult beetle flies off to... you guessed it... eat more aphids! It will also find a mate, and the female will lay her own eggs, starting the entire cycle all over again.

So, next time you're in the garden and see one of those spiky "alligators," leave it be! You're looking at a hard-working baby ladybug that's protecting your plants. Isn't nature incredible?

10/23/2025

https://www.facebook.com/share/p/19gY2QmzXi/?mibextid=wwXIfr

Congratulations to Girl Scout Elizabeth from Mountain Lakes for earning the Girl Scout Gold Award for her project: Mountain Lakes Wildlife! 💚

Elizabeth hoped to make her town more wildlife-friendly through educating her community on the importance of native pollinator wildflowers. Elizabeth was able to plant pollinator wildflowers throughout her community and work with her mayor to proclaim Monarch Butterflies Day in New Jersey.

For more Gold Award Girl Scout stories, visit: www.gsnnj.org/TakeActionProjects

10/20/2025

The Deron School is a special needs school in NJ that offers programs in academics, fine & gross motor coordination, and social & independent living skills.

10/20/2025

If you give a Hoot about Halloween Happiness, join us for Audubon's Creatures of the Night, October 24 and 25 at Beechwood Farms Nature Reserve. Enjoy a family-friendly and non-scary outdoor adventure. Come in costume and enjoy the trails at night. You'll get some treats and meet creatures of the night including one of our bird ambassadors! Register here: https://www.aswp.org/our-programs/programs/

10/20/2025