While cleaning up the place today for a big Halloween shindig tomorrow, my roommates noticed some odd yellow egglike things in Qubit’s bed. Naturally, my first reaction was, “Oh shit, it’s some new form of Ebola,” but after I took a few deep breaths and reassured myself that I hadn’t eaten any monkeys recently and that cats don’t carry Ebola, I scrapped that suspicion.

Of course, I was still worried about Qubit. These yellow egglike things are about the size and shape of sesame seeds, although that’s obviously not what they are. Could they be parasites of some kind? An invading vanguard of evil mind-controlling genetically engineered super organisms intent on gaining control over the feline population and using their persuasive powers and sharp, deadly claws to KILL ALL HUMANS???

Being of a logical and scientific sort, however, I quickly dismissed these thoughts and settled on a much more sensible conclusion: Qubit has obviously developed the ability to lay eggs.

Okay, okay. No, she’s not laying eggs. As it turns out, the eggs look exactly like ladybug eggs. Which is totally weird, because ladybugs aren’t terribly common around here. I can’t remember the last time I saw one. Not only that, but Qubit has never been outside for longer than the minute or two it takes me to chase her down when she occasionally escapes. How she picked up ladybug eggs is a complete mystery. And there were a lot of them, too.

In further support of the ladybug hypothesis is a small larva, all wriggly and very much alive, that Lillis found near Qubit’s bed. It looks very much like a young ladybug larva. So not only has Qubit somehow picked up ladybug eggs, these eggs are hatching into actual ladybug larvae, and yet I’ve never seen a ladybug in the house. Will I wake up one morning to find myself covered in a skittering blanket of ladybugs? Is this the first wave of a massive ladybug offensive? Should I start calling my aphid friends and suggesting they head for the hills?

It’s a mystery. If anyone can come up with a reasonable explanation for how these things might have attached themselves to Qubit and whether or not they are, in fact, ladybugs, that’d be great.

Update: Eilonwy pointed out that the larva actually looks much more like a carpet beetle larva than a ladybug larva. I haven’t found pictures of carpet beetle eggs yet, but the descriptions I’ve read say they’re white or reddish-brown, not yellow. Enasmai has mentioned that there was a well-established (but apparently unnoticed by me) ladybug infestation at my previous residence, where Qubit could certainly have picked up some ladybug eggs. Looks like we may have two separate infestations on our hands! Egad!