Can anyone identify these larvae?

I am not sure what these are that I photographed today. I have found one or two over the past few days. I think it is the pupa of something, my first thought was ladybird, but maybe something else?

 

ladybird before it hatches into a ladybird

 

It hatched into a ladybird.

It looks like a 2 spotted ladybird like those that I bought last year, along with a ladybird house that I just thought would never get used by ladybirds.

 

And in another area of my garden I just found what I think is a ladybird larva?

It must either be from those I bought last year, or one that arrived on its own. 2 spotted ladybirds are likely to be the bought ones.

 

Harlequin Ladybird larva...

Harmonia axyridis - Wikipedia

Nick

 

I just found what I think is an adult Green Lacewing.

Sorry it is tiny and I haven't yet learnt how to take good photographs of very tiny creatures.

 

Yes definitely a lacewing. Macro photography is good for tiny things.

 

I absolutely love these... there are some plant recommendations in this article that I might try.

Bugs to hug: 5 beneficial insects and how to attract them – The Denver Post

Nick

 

I couldn't get that article, it is either subscription only or not available in the UK.

I planted a few interesting plants recently, hoping to attract beneficial insects, such as a lilac Achillea (Yarrow) which is already flowering well, an Eryngium zabelii (Sea Holly) which isn't flowering yet and was only a small plant so could take some time to get going, and a Verbena bonariensis which likewise isn't flowering yet and could take a while to get going, as well as two Salvias.

The bumblebees constantly visit my nasturtiums and I have seen them sample a couple of violas, and the hoverflies seem to quite like Feverfew and Erigeron karvinskianus. But both seem to totally ignore my roses and most of my plants. My roses are all semi-double, with accessible nectar, and most of them have a good scent. I have all kinds of flowers that are opening now it is summer. The Chamomile and Shasta daisies have a lot of buds, so maybe when they open the pollinators might show some interest in them. I do see quite a lot of hoverflies in my garden, not as many as last year when I grew a lot of Alyssum, and this year I don't often see them actually taking nectar from flowers, though the other day I watched a hoverfly make its way slowly around the yellow centre of a Feverfew flower.