Ladybugs are beetles. They are small oval-shaped
insects with wings. Sometimes they are called ladybirds or lady beetles.
What is a ladybug?
Have you ever wondered how the ladybug got its name? There is a legend that during the Middle Ages, swarms of pests were destroying crops, so farmers prayed to the Virgin Mary, the mother of Jesus, for help. Soon after, ladybugs came and ate the bad pests and saved the crops. The farmers called these bugs, "Beetles of Our Lady" and they eventually became known as "ladybugs”. In many countries, ladybugs are considered to be good luck.
Legend of the Ladybug’s Name
Say it in Spanish - Mariquita
Ladybugs are usually red, but can be black, yellow or orange. Their spots can be any of those colors, or they
can have no spots at all.
Not just red and black
The number of spots identifies the type of ladybug, there are more
than 5,000 different types of ladybugs worldwide.
Click here to see more ladybugs
Spots, spots, spots…
What do ladybugs eat?
Most people love to have ladybugs in their gardens. Ladybugs eat aphids,
mealybugs, and mites, which eat the plants in your garden. You can usually
find these pests underneath leaves.
Some people will put ladybug houses in their
yards or buy ladybugs at a
nursery.Why would
anyone do that?
Ladybug larvae Wednesday, March 27, 2002, Mrs. Rodini 1D
The dark specks are aphids or mites for the larvae to eat
This is a ladybug in the larvae stage
PupaeEventually,
the larval skin splits down
the back and we see the pupa. The pupa stage
lasts about a week.
What is metamorphosis?After metamorphosis is
complete, we see the adult ladybug. Metamorphosis
means to have a dramatic change
in the way something
looks.
Did you know?
Ladybugs’ spots fade as they get older. Most ladybugs are 1/4 of an inch long. If a ladybug feels threatened, it will play dead. Click here for more facts about ladybugs.
References
S. Seagraves, Ladybugs. 25 March 2002 http://www.geocities.com/sseagraves/schoolyardscience.htm
Wild Birds Foreever, Ladybug Habitation Boxes. 8 April 2002 <http://birdsforever.com/ladybug.html>
Author unnamed, Ladybugs ladybugs. 27 March 2002http://members.tripod.com/~llladybug/ladybuggraphics.html
Country Road Graphics, Ladybug Set. 8 April 2002 http://countryroad.50megs.com/ladybugset.html
Enchanted Learning Software, Ladybug. 25 March 2002 www.enchantedlearning.com/subjects/insects/Ladybug.shtml
http://www.creativethursday.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2007/04/real%20lady%20bugs.jpg
Armstrong Brothers Capital Nursery and Peter Stasser of SK Design, In the Garden: Our Online Newsletter. 8 April 2002<http://www.capitalnursery.com/newsletr/v1n1.html>
C. Fooshee, Mid-Florida Research and Education Center. 8 April 2002 http://mrec.ifas.ufl.edu/Foliage/entomol/ncstate
Author unknown, Ladybugs. 8 April 2002. http://www.geocities.com/paraskits/index/ladybugs/ladybugs.html#How the Ladybug got its name
University of Alberta, Aphid Parallel Game-Tree Search Library. 8 April 2002http://www.cs.ualberta.ca/~games/aphid/photo.html
References
Some pictures of ladybugs were taken by teachers of Serra Catholic School using the Intel Play QX3 Computer Microscope in March and April 2002.
http://www.malawicichlidhomepage.com/macro_nature/ladybug.jpg
http://images.search.yahoo.com/images/view?back=http%3A%2F%2Fimages.search.yahoo.com%2Fsearch%2Fimages%3Fp%3Dladybugs%2B%252Bfarmers%26fr%3Dyfp-t-501%26ei%3Dutf-8%26js%3D1%26x%3Dwrt&w=100&h=100&imgurl=www.growquest.com%2Findeximages%2Flbugwithaphid.jpg&rurl=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.growquest.com%2Ffree_ladybugs.htm&size=7.6kB&name=lbugwithaphid.jpg&p=ladybugs%20+farmers&type=JPG&oid=035e20dbabead3ec&no=6&tt=15
References