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Originally Posted by mtngoat
 lol, every time I think of a lady'bird' I always think of a secret girlfriend thing... or sumthin'.  |
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Is the "pumping" one of the reasons why it is possible to find yellow ladybirds/bugs? Where I used to live, there used to be hordes of them in the summer, and occasionally I'd find a yellow one. 
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The expansion of the wings and the coulouring of the elytra are basically two different processes.
As for the colour (Paul correct me if I'm wrong!): Most ladybirds emerge very pale/yellowish and start putting on colour immediately (as well as swiftly finding a spot to expand/inflate the wings). In many species the colouring is "mostly" complete after a few hours or a few days. Some species however will only develop a basic colour level fairly quickly and then take notably longer to reach their full colour-intensity (up to a year?!).
There are however a few species that have "yellow" colour varieties - either with or without spots - so chances are you would have seen some of those between the bulk of the "usual" beetles (I'm assuming the "prototype" would haven been red with black dots where you live too).
Most notable/usual species that is "yellow" (although with black spots) would be
Psyllobora vigintiduopunctata, but others have yellowish versions too, possibly even without spots (such as yellow
Har.axy. succineas with little or no spots). Not familiar with the North-American fauna though
Cheers, Arp