Lost Ladybug Project

In Sunday's Wichita Eagle I saw the following article...

Scientists in search of nation's lost ladybugs
BY MARY ESCH
Associated Press

ITHACA, N.Y. —A year after they launched a nationwide search for dwindling native ladybugs, New York researchers are breeding colonies of them from insects found by citizen scientists in Oregon and Colorado....

The article gave a link to the project's website (here). If you're looking for an interesting project to do with your children, this one has all sorts of resources.
I'm always seeing ladybugs in my garden and have noted that they don't all look the same, so this was quite interesting to me. Today I went out with my camera and found the one below on the okra. After looking at the picture on my computer I believe that there were also larva, most noticeably to the left (possibly two?) and then to the right. All out of focus. This ladybird, it's actual name, looks to be a seven spotted, an import from Asia.

The next one I found on a cucumber leaf, it's a Multicolored Asian.

And this larva was scurrying around on a leaf beneath it.

Many years ago I found a mass of these larva on the cement foundation of my house that is kept warm being on the south side in the sun. At that time I didn't have a clue WHAT they were. After doing some research I finally that they were ladybird beetles. Amazing the transformation they make. So grab your cameras and head outdoors for a ladybug/ladybird beetle hunt, maybe YOU have some nine spot in your yard.

Five and a half Hours Later

Remember the pictures in my post "Trying to Catch Up" of the trim work that I was wanting to get done? Well, I went outside at 2pm yesterday and finished up just before 7:30pm. I even swept the driveway. See my local transportation sitting on the drive?...
This curb really didn't take all that long to get done...
...but this one is a lot longer that what it looks in this picture and was REALLY overgrown further down. Now all I have to do is make sure and keep it trimmed so it doesn't get that bad again.
Below is what my garden often looks like after I've picked through it in the morning. I pull the bad leaves off and toss them out of the garden. Later I rake them into a pile out by the alley.

Here's the problem I'm having with the squash plants. The tops of the leaves will start looking mottled and then develop a powdery substance...
...which eventually shows up on the bottom of the leaves also. These are what I pick and toss out of the garden.
I also remove any dying foliage from the ground. Yesterday I picked up this dead leaf and found it covered with dead squash bugs. Something killed them off, but I've not a clue as to what.
I found this cute little bug interesting, a ladybug with no spots!