What kind of bug is that?

As my daughter and I walked past the plum tree more than a month ago, she said, "Look mom, a ladybug!". I peered at it and thought, "That is no lady bug! What is that?"



As we looked around the tree a bit more I saw quite a few of them and a few of these too:




I decided to bag one of the shell looking things up and see what it became. We brought it inside and a day or two later I saw a lady bug crawling around in the bag. Yep. My five year old was spot on. It was a lady bug!



Now, in October, our entire orchard, but mostly the plum tree, is covered in lady bugs! I am in heaven! Not spraying any thing, organic or otherwise, has really payed off. Anyone know how to help them overwinter??