When I looked a bit more closely at the monument plant (green gentian) that I mentioned a couple of emails ago, I noticed there were dozens of ladybugs clustered around the bottom of the stalk. This image shows just a handful; there were many more on the lower part of the stalk.
This particular monument plant was near Sandia Crest, where ladybugs tend to congregate in the summer. I learned that they’re often inadvertent, passive pollinators.
The two ladybugs above seemed to be interested in a more active form of reproduction. Or perhaps it was a two-for-one situation: Pollinating the monument plant while perpetuating their own species. Whichever, it all seemed like a win for Mother Nature.