Coccinellidae

Coccinellidae is a family of beetles, known variously as ladybirds (British English and Australian English), ladybugs (North American English) or lady beetles (preferred by scientists).

Two-Spotted Lady Beetle

The two-spotted lady beetle is very common in western Europe. It is used as a biological control agent against aphids in greenhouses.

The most familiar form of the two-spot ladybird beetle is the red one with the two black or brown spots. However, there also exists a black form with four or six red parts on it.

In addition, there are intermediate forms, but they occur only rarely in nature.

Scientific Claasification of Ladybirds

Scientific classification
Kingdom:Animalia
Phylum:Arthropoda
Class:Insecta
Order:Coleoptera
Superfamily:Cucujoidea
Family:CoccinellidaeLatreille, 1807

Hibernation

Some species are migratory and form large aggregations during the migratory period.





They also form large aggregations when they go into hibernation in winter.

As in many insects, ladybugs in temperate regions enter diapause during the winter.

Some species gather into groups and move to higher land, such as a mountain, to enter diapause.

Five-Spotted Lady Beetle

By the way, not all ladybugs are really ladies. There are male ladybugs too!

Extreme Lady Beetle with TOO MANY SPOTS

Count them if you can!

Extreme Lady Beetle with ONE SPOT

One spotted Lady Beetle;

Isn't it look cute?

Seven -Spotted Ladybeetle

Ladybugs are well-known and popular beetles, and the seven-spot ladybird is one of the commonest species. This rounded beetle has bright red wing cases with 7 black spots, although some individuals may have more or fewer spots.

Twice-stabbed Lady Beetle

Chilocorus stigma, the twice-stabbed lady beetle, is a native resident of the United States and Canada but does not live west of the Sierra Nevada. It also lives in Oceania and has been introduced to Hawaii [1]. Its elytra are shiny black in color, and there is one red spot on each elytra. The remainder of the body is black as well, but the abdomen is either yellow or red in color.

Eleytra: Covering over their wings for protection!

This is a ladybird during rain - see how the small raindrops sit on the elytra!

Habitats

Most ladybugs are beneficial to gardeners in general. In the Spring, you'd usually find a ladybug in a vegetable garden feeding on aphids.

Ladybugs are usually found where aphids or scale insects are, and they lay their eggs near their prey, to increase the likelihood the larvae will find the prey easily. Since aphids and scale insects occur nearly everywhere in the world, ladybugs are also cosmopolitan.

Thirteen-Spotted Lady Beetle

The Thirteen-spotted Lady Beetle is quite elongate (4.5 to 6.4 mm or approximately ¼ in.) and boasts thirteen irregular spots on an orange background. The spots sometimes merge, so it might be hard to make a clear count.

LadyBird Anatomy

Ladybirds have a protective covering over their wings called 'elytra'. When ladybirds fly, the 'elytra opens up to allow movement of the wings. When it is still, the 'elytra' closes up.

The head of a ladybird is very tiny, although the females head is larger than the males. The head is so tiny, it can sometimes be mistaken for the 'pronotum'.

Like all insects, ladybirds have 6 jointed legs, arranged each side in 3 pairs, 2 antennea, an exoskeleton which is made from 'chitin' - a strong protein that is similar to what makes our hair and nails.

They have a 3 part body made up of head, thorax and abdomen.
If you look closely at the top of the Ladybird you will probably have thought the large black section on top of the body is it's head, but it's head is on top of it's pronotum!

Ladybird Life Cycle

Most Ladybirds mate in the spring or summer, and the female lays a cluster of eggs as near as possible to an aphid colony.

In most species these eggs hatch into a larval state within a week. This state lasts 10-15 days, and they then go into a pupal stage before becoming an adult Ladybird.

The entire life cycle of the Ladybird is only 4-7 weeks.

Ladybirds lay extra infertile eggs with the fertile eggs. These appear to provide a backup food source for the larvae when they hatch. The ratio of infertile to fertile eggs increases with scarcity of food at the time of egg laying.

There are 4 stages : egg ----larvae----pupa-----adult

The female ladybird lays many tiny eggs in an aphid colony - the fertilization of the eggs is performed inside of the ladybird. In the spring a ladybird can lay up to 300 eggs in one time.

The larvae then hatches from the tiny eggs. The larvae has 6 legs and is a long shape. As the larvae grows rapidly, it sheds its' skin several times. When it reaches full size, it attaches itself to the stem of a plant .

The larval skin then splits down the back exposing the pupa.
The pupa is the size of an adult ladybird but it is all wrapped up at this stage of the metamorphosis.

The wrapping protects the pupa while it undergoes the final stages of metamorphosis into the adult stage. This last stage only takes a few days.

Ladybird Folklore

According to some Ladybugs are dedicated to the Virgin Mary, hence their English name; others say they were originally dedicated to an earlier Goddess. The Dutch name of the Ladybug, "Lieveheersbeest" means "Dear Lord's Animal".
The Ladybug is believed to bring specific benefits;

It is said in Sweden that if a Ladybird lands in a young maidens hand, she will soon get married!

In England, if a farmer finds a Ladybird, they will have a good harvest! Also in England each spot means a lucky month to come.

Some say that if you find a Ladybird in your house in winter, it brings you good luck!

In Austria a Ladybug is a sign of good weather.

The Ladybug is considered good luck in China and many other cultures. The Chinese consider it good luck to find one in the house.

In the Canada and the U.S. many are familiar with some of these stories. Finding a ladybug overwintering in the garage brings good luck! It is said that if a Ladybug lands on you and then flies away on its own it is good luck. Canadians say that you should make a wish and let the Ladybug fly away--the direction it flies too shows the direction from which your wish will come. A rhyme can be recited to urge it to depart. It starts:

Ladybug, Ladybug fly away home.
Your house is on fire and your children are gone.
There are variations on this song by region and country.




Germans believe that the Ladybug is generally good luck but a traditional belief is that if there are less than seven spots you are guaranteed a good harvest.

French vineyards Ladybugs bring good weather.
its name in Iran means "Good News".

In parts of Northern Europe, tradition says that one's wish granted if a ladybird lands on oneself. In Italy, it is said by some that if a ladybird flies into one's bedroom, it is considered good luck. In central Europe, a ladybird crawling across a girl's hand is thought to mean she will get married within the year. In Russia, a ladybird is called Божья коровка (God's cow) and a popular children's rhyme exists with a call to fly to the sky and bring back bread. Similarly, in Denmark a ladybird, called a mariehøne (Mary's hen), is asked by children to fly to 'our lord in heaven and ask for fairer weather in the morning'. In Irish, the insect is called "bóín Dé" — or "God's little cow".
In some cultures they are referred to as lucky bugs (Turkish: uğur böceği). In Greece, ladybugs are called πασχαλίτσα (paschalitsa), because they are found abundantly in Eastertime along with paschalia, the Common Lilac plant, which flowers at the same time.

In shamanism, Ladybug is associated with spirituality and religious devotion. Its life is short and it teaches to let go of worries and fears, to trust the great spirit and enjoy life. It is thought to be connected with the powers of renewal and regeneration. The Ladybug's appearance brings joy and changes and is a message to have faith in the greater powers.

Others point out the Ladybug's similarity in shape to the Scarab Beetle of ancient Egyptian and believe that the Ladybug is the European inheritor of the Scarab's good luck powers. Some believe that the red color represents the ancient belief in the good luck power of fire.

Why are the Ladybirds colourful?

The reason that ladybirds are so colourful is that they use their colouration to warn predators like insectivorous birds that what they are about to eat will not taste so good. When ladybirds are disturbed or handled, they deposit a yellow or amber-coloured fluid which comes from their leg joints and other parts of their bodies. This fluid has a bitter taste. It also leaves a yellow stain on your skin which can smell horrid.

Asian Ladybird

The multi-colored Asian lady beetle, Harmonia axyridis Pallas, is a native of Asia. Like a variety of many exotic species, it has readily adapted to climates and habitats in the U.S. As with nearly all lady beetles, it is a highly beneficial predator on a variety of insect pests, especially aphids, in food crops, trees and landscape plantings. Trouble occurs when populations buildup, and large numbers of beetles enter buildings in the fall to hibernate. During unusually warm winter days and in early spring, the beetles wake up and crawl into areas of buildings inhabited by people. Since lady beetles are a significant natural defense against aphids and other pests, it is important to correctly identify the Asian lady beetle and use restraint with the use of pesticides or other management tactics.
Distinguishing the Asian lady beetle from other lady beetles:The adult is oval-shaped and about ¼-inch long and about 3/16-inch wide. The color of the its back (elytra) genereally ranges from mustard yellow to bright red-orange. In some parts of the world, almost entirely black forms are found.
Unlike most lady beetles species, the number of black spots on its back may vary from zero to 20 or more. All of these beetles at left, are Asian lady beetles.

Distinguishing characteristic: The area on the insect's back just behind the head is called the pronotum. On Asian ladybeetles, it is straw-colored with four black spots that form a W- shape when viewed from the front or an "M" when viewed from behind. In the photo at left, we've extracted the "M" shape. These spots may be fused (left) or distinct The Asian ladybeetle larva resembles a small, spiny alligator with a blue-black body and two rows of small orange to reddish spots on its back. Newly hatched, they are about 1/8 inch long and grow to about 1/2 inch.
When fully grown, the Asian lady beetle larva molts into a pupa then transforms itself into an adult beetle. The pupa is usually attached to a leaf or other substrate near an aphid colony. The pupa is orange with black spots and similar in size and shape to the adult.

Defense Tactics

The bright colours warn predators for the bitter taste of this beetle. Besides their warning colours ladybugs have other defense tactics: when in danger they often let themselves fall and stop moving as if they were dead. Also they can excrete a biting, smelly substance when disturbed.

Usefulness in a garden

The ladybug is very useful to gardeners as aphids are the favourite food of both adult beetles and their larvae.

Most likely the Ladybug earned a favorable reputation from its usefulness in a garden. Ladybugs are very beneficial insects that eat all kinds of bad bugs like aphids. Live Ladybugs can be ordered for gardens for this purpose. Accordingly, many of the Ladybug's good luck propensities may have been extrapolated from its desirability to farmers and, therefore, food and prosperity.