Massive Ladybug Swarm Over California Shows Up on Weather Radar

An unusual image showed up on the National Weather Service's radar in Southern California on Tuesday. The Los Angeles Times reports a huge blob that at first glance looked like a rain cloud actually turned out to be a giant swarm of ladybugs. After Joe Dandrea, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service San Diego, spotted the blob on the radar, he contacted a "spotter" in the San Bernadino Mountains to find out what they were seeing. The ladybug bloom was about 80 miles by 80 miles. They were spread throughout the sky from 5,000-9,000 feet high, and the most concentrated mass was approximately 10 miles wide. "I don't think they're dense like a cloud," Dandrea said. "The observer there said you could see little specks flying by." Some ladybugs are known to migrate near the area this time of year.