Ladybugs on dried Delta Sunflowers

You might remember that a few weeks ago I posted a photo of ladybug larva on a dried California Delta Sunflower.

This mature ladybug might be one of the larva in the photo.

I was about to cut off these dried up sunflowers because I have new seedlings of the same kind of sunflower.

But now that I saw this ladybug and...

...this ladybug larva on a nearby leaf, I am leaving the plant intact, for now.

Ladybugs are such beneficial beetles in the garden.

They sip on nectar and pollen and then pollinate flowers and vegetable plants as they move from plant to plant.

And they eat garden pests such as aphids and scale.