Some updates on the ladybugs:
We noticed yesterday that one of them was laying eggs! We’d been sort of wondering if they’d get around to laying eggs, and it turns out the answer is yes.
… we then watched another ladybug eating the eggs, rather rapidly. Apparently not all the eggs are fertile - some are simply food for larvae, and, apparently, for other ladybugs. This is also an indication that your ladybugs are hungry.
After two strings of eggs (they’re sort of long, yellow, lumpy things) got eaten, one wise ladybug stuck some in the little “ladybug house,” and since we noticed, we taped off the entrance, protecting those eggs.
Also, it turns out that pregnant ladybugs are really, really big compared to the not-pregnant ones - they’re just visibly bulged and bulky. This morning, we let most of them go, saving one that was still visibly pregnant. And, as hoped, she laid a string of eggs this afternoon - at which point we let her go.
So, right now, we have about 25 eggs of some variety in the ladybug habitat, which is now empty of ladybugs and has larvae food and some water. They supposedly hatch in 3-10 days, so… we’ll see if we get another generation!