13/06/2025
There are about 5,000 different species of ladybirds in the world. These much loved critters are also known as lady beetles or ladybugs, and in many cultures they’re considered good luck. They come in many different colours and patterns.
Most people like ladybirds because they are pretty, graceful and harmless to humans. But farmers love them because they eat aphids and other plant-eating pests. And boy do they eat – in it’s year-long life, a single seven-spot ladybird can gobble more than 5000 aphids!
Most ladybirds have oval, dome-shaped bodies with six short legs. Depending on the species, they can have spots, stripes or no markings at all. Seven-spotted ladybugs are red (or sometimes orange) with three spots on each side and one in the middle. Their head is black with white patches on either side.
The ladybird’s bright colours act as an important defence mechanism, warning animals they’d best not eat them. When threatened, the bugs secrete an oily, yukky, yellow fluid from joints in their legs – and their colouring acts a reminder to any peckish predators who’ve eaten their kind before that they taste disgusting!
Ladybirds lay their eggs in clusters or rows on the underside of a leaf, usually where aphids have gathered. Larvae, which vary in shape and colour depending on the species, emerge in a few days. Seven-spot ladybird larvae are long, black and spiky-looking with orange or yellow spots – some say they look a bit like small alligators!
Larvae grow quickly and shed their skin several times. When they reach full size, they attach to a leaf by their tail, and a ‘pupa’ is formed. In only a week or two later, the pupa becomes an adult ladybug.
Source: natgeokids
