Ladybug is arthropod insect, which belongs to the order Coleoptera, the family of ladybugs (lat. Coccinellidae).
Where did the name ladybug come from?
The ladybug received its scientific name due to its unusually bright color - the Latin word “coccineus” corresponds to the concept of “scarlet”. And the common nicknames given to the ladybug in many countries around the world speak of people’s respect and sympathy for this insect. For example, in Germany and Switzerland it is known as the “Virgin Mary’s bug” (Marienkaefer), in Slovenia and the Czech Republic the ladybug is called “Sun” (Slunecko), and many Latin Americans know it as the “St. Anthony’s bug” (Vaquita de San Antonio).
The origin of the Russian name for ladybug is not exactly known. Some researchers are inclined to believe that this is due to the ability of the insect, in case of danger, to secrete “milk” - a special poisonous liquid (hemolymph) that repels predators. And “God’s” means meek, harmless. Others believe that these insects received the nickname “ladybugs” because they destroy aphids and help preserve crops.
Ladybug: description, characteristics, photo. What does an insect look like?
The size of the ladybug ranges from 4 to 10 mm. The body shape of insects is almost round or elongated oval, flat below and highly convex above. Its surface in some species ladybugs covered with fine hairs.
The body structure of ladybugs includes a head, a pronotum, a thorax consisting of three sections, three pairs of legs, an abdomen, and wings with elytra. The insect's head is small, motionlessly connected to the prothorax and, depending on the species, may be slightly elongated. Ladybug's eyes are relative big size. The antennae, consisting of 8-11 segments, are highly flexible.
The pronotum of the insect is convex, transverse in structure, with a notch on the anterior edge. There are often spots on its surface various shapes. In contrast to the prothorax and mesothorax, which are extended across the body of the insect, the shape of the metathorax resembles an almost perfect square.
In total, ladybugs have 6 legs, which are of moderate length. In the structure of each insect leg there are three obvious and one hidden segment. With their help, the insect can move quite quickly along the grass or plant stems. The abdomen of ladybugs consists of five to six segments, covered from below by sternites (segmental semirings).
Ladybugs fly using their two hind wings.
In the process of evolution, the front wings of the ladybug were transformed into hard elytra, which serve as protection for the main pair for the period while the ladybugs are on the ground.
As a defense against predators such as birds, ladybugs secrete cantharidin, a toxic yellow liquid that has an unpleasant odor.
In addition, the bright colors of the cow also scare potential enemies away from it.
The color of the ladybug's protective covering can be bright red, rich yellow, black, dark blue or brown with spots of black, yellow, red or white in various configurations.
In some types of ladybirds, these spots can merge into abstract patterns, while in others they are completely absent. Often the pattern on the pronotum is a sign by which the sex of a ladybug can be distinguished.
Types of ladybugs, names and photos
The large family of ladybirds includes more than 4,000 species, divided into 7 subfamilies, which include approximately 360 genera.
Most interesting varieties ladybugs:
- Two-spot ladybug (lat. Adalia bipunctata)
A beetle with a body length of up to 5 mm, dark red elytra and two large black spots. The prothorax lacks an anterior carina. The pronotum is black and has a yellow lateral border.
- Seven-spotted ladybird (lat. Coccinella septempunctata)
The most common ladybug in Europe. The size of a ladybug reaches 7-8 mm. The elytra are colored red; they have one small white spot (at the base) and three large black spots. The seventh spot of the ladybug is located on the pronotum (scutellum).
- Twelve-spotted ladybug (lat. Coleomegilla maculata)
The insect is 6 mm long and has pink or red elytra with 6 spots on each of them.
- Thirteen-spotted cow (lat. Hippodamia tredecimpunctata)
The dimensions of the elongated body of adult individuals range from 4.5 to 7 mm. The elytra of the ladybug are colored red-brown. There are 13 spots on them, some of which merge with each other.
- Fourteen-spotted cow (lat. Propylea quatuordecimpunctata)
It has yellow or black elytra with spots of black or yellow color.
- Seventeen-spotted ladybug (lat.Tytthaspis sedecimpunctata )
The insect's body is 2.5-3.5 mm long. Usually its color is bright yellow, sometimes it can be darker. These live in Europe.
- Asian ladybug (lat. Harmonia axyridis)
The beetle has a body length of up to 7 mm. Within the species there are two subspecies. One of them has yellow wing covers with black spots, both large and small. The prothorax is white with a dark pattern. The second subspecies is characterized by black coloration of the elytra, on which red-orange spots are clearly visible. Prothorax black with light yellow spots. This type of ladybug has 19 spots.
- Variable ladybug (lat. Hippodamia variegata)
Body size up to 5.5 mm. The pronotum is black and has two yellow spots. On the yellow-red elytra, 6 are clearly visible dark spots of various shapes and 1 large spot near the scutellum. The edges of the black pronotum are framed by a yellow border.
- Ocellated ladybug (lat. Anatis ocellata)
Quite a large insect with a body length of up to 10 mm. The color of the head and pronotum of this species of ladybug is black with small yellow spots. The elytra are yellow or red, each of them has black spots surrounded by lighter rims.
- Alfalfa twenty-four-spot ladybird (lat. Subcoccinella vigintiquatuorpunctata)
Pest of agricultural crops. Little bug with body length y adult no more than 4 mm. The entire body of the ladybug is colored red. The elytra and pronotum are strewn with 24 small black spots.
- Pointless ladybug (lat. Cynegetis impunctata)
Enough rare view ladybugs, the red or brown body of which is covered with small and thin fibers. The dimensions of the imago do not exceed 4.5 mm. There are no characteristic points on its elytra and pronotum.
- ladybug kindSospita has several types and color variations.
- Ladybug Halyzia sedecimguttata
The insect has an orange wing cover with 16 white dots. Lives in Europe and the British Isles.
- Ladybug Anatis labiculata
Insect white or light gray with 15 black dots.
- There is also blue ladybug is Halmus chalybeus .
Its elytra have a blue sheen, and its length reaches 3-4 mm. This insect lives in Australia.
Scientists give a clear answer to the question about the spots on the elytra of ladybugs: the number of spots does not indicate the age of the insect, but only indicates its belonging to a particular species. More than 4 thousand such species live on Earth. Representatives of each of them “wear” a different number of points on their backs, or rather, there can be from 2 to 28. Interestingly, the elytra of insects can be colored both in the usual red-orange color and, for example, in yellow. And the spots can be not only black, but also white. All these characteristics also depend on the species.
The 7-spotted ladybug (Coccinella septempunctata) can boast of the abundance of its species. This insect is found in nature more often than its relatives. The second most common species is the ladybug with two spots on its back (Adalia bipunctata). Representatives of both species are predators and feed on aphids. However, among these insects there are also vegetarians. These include the 28-spotted ladybug, which sometimes causes irreparable damage to potatoes, tomatoes, cucumbers and other cultivated plants.
Everyone knows such an insect as a ladybug. Each of us held this beetle in the palm of our hand and curiously counted the number of points on its back. Remember how in childhood we thought how many dots - how many years a ladybug is, how they sang rhymes, begging them to fly to the sky... The ladybug insect evokes joyful and enthusiastic memories from childhood. Below you will find a photo and description of the ladybug, you can learn a lot of new and unusual things about it.
The ladybug looks quite small. The size of the ladybug reaches a length of 4 to 9 mm. The ladybug looks recognizable, because most often it is colored red and strewn with black dots. The ladybug has a convex, almost round shape body. The ladybug looks interesting, because there are so many small details in the structure of its body.
The ladybug insect has a head, pronotum, chest, abdomen, wings with elytra and paws. The ladybug has a small and short head, which is motionlessly connected to the pronotum. On the head of the insect there are eyes and movable antennae. The ladybug beetle flies using a pair of hind wings. The ladybug's forewings are rigid elytra that protect the main wings while it is on the ground. The ladybug flies well and makes up to 85 wing beats per second.
Everyone knows that the ladybug looks so bright to scare away predators. In addition to the variegated colors, the ladybug also secretes a yellow liquid with a sharp, specific odor. This liquid is poisonous and serves as protection against frogs, spiders and other potential enemies. The ladybug beetle secretes its poisonous liquid from the joints of its legs in case of danger. Also, when in danger, an insect can even pretend to be dead.
Of course, a red ladybug is not the only option color scheme for a given insect. There is a yellow ladybug, a black ladybug and even a white ladybug. What a ladybug looks like and what color it will be depends on the type of ladybug. At the same time, young individuals have the most saturated color; in older individuals, it fades over time.
The types of ladybugs are very diverse. They all have different shapes, sizes, color and number of points. There are even ladybugs without dots. More than four thousand species of ladybugs are known, which are grouped into 360 genera and are distributed in almost all parts of the world.
The most famous and common type of ladybug that we are most familiar with is the seven-spotted ladybug. It has the usual red color for us, and is named so because it has exactly 7 black dots. Below in the photo you can see different kinds ladybugs.
Where does the ladybug live?
The ladybug lives almost everywhere except the Arctic and Antarctic. Ladybug lives on trees, bushes and grass in different parts of the world. Most often, the ladybug lives in steppe zone, forests, mountains and gardens. In Russia, the ladybug lives almost throughout the entire territory, with the exception of the extreme northern regions. The ladybug also lives in Europe, Asia, Japan, China, India, Mongolia, Africa, Korea and America.
How does a ladybug live?
The ladybug lives, being active with early spring and up to late autumn. In winter, ladybugs hide under fallen leaves, tree bark or stones, where they remain until spring. But not all ladybugs are sedentary and remain to spend the winter where they spent the summer. Often, before the onset of cold weather, ladybugs migrate.
During wintering and migration periods, ladybugs, which usually lead a solitary lifestyle, gather together. Also, massive accumulations of this beetle are typical during the mating season. In spring, the ladybug wakes up very early; for her, it is enough for the temperature to reach only +10 °C. Therefore, the ladybug can be one of the first to be seen after winter. Ladybugs live from 10 to 12 months and only occasionally up to 2 years. The lifespan of a ladybug depends on the availability of food.
It will probably be a great discovery for each of us that most ladybugs are predators. Because ladybugs eat aphids. A ladybug eats about a hundred aphids a day. In addition, ladybugs eat psyllids, scale insects, mites and scale insects. The ladybug larva is also predatory. Both the ladybug and its larva are very voracious.
Ladybug insect huge quantities destroys various dangerous pests what it brings great benefit agriculture. The seven-spotted ladybird was even specially brought to America to combat spider mites and aphids.
Of course, there are also herbivorous species of ladybugs. These ladybugs feed on plants and cause damage to agriculture. Herbivorous ladybugs are most common in the tropics of all continents and the subtropics of Southeast Asia.
In Russia there are 3 species of ladybugs that feed on plants. Harm to potatoes, tomatoes, cucumbers and others vegetable crops 28-spot ladybird inflicts, alfalfa ladybird damages sugar beets and alfalfa, and the pointless ladybug harms clover and sweet clover. All other types of ladybugs that live in Russia are predators.
Ladybug larva
The mating season for ladybugs occurs in mid-spring, when the insects have already gained strength after hibernation or flight. During the breeding season, the female secretes a special secret through which the male finds her. After which the female lays eggs on the plants. The ladybug chooses a place closer to aphid colonies so that the offspring are provided with food.
Ladybug eggs look like pointed, oval-shaped grains and can be colored yellow, orange or White color. The female deposits them on the underside of the leaves or stems of the plant. One ladybug can lay up to 400 eggs, placing them in small piles. If the female feeds well, she can lay up to 1 thousand eggs.
After about a couple of weeks, variegated oval-shaped ladybug larvae with a bluish-gray tint appear from the laid eggs. The ladybug larva has thin bristles on its body and a peculiar pattern, which is formed by a combination of orange, yellow and white spots. After hatching, the ladybug larva eats the shell of its egg and the dead eggs. When the larva gets stronger, it begins to destroy aphid colonies. The voracious ladybug larvae eats up to 300 aphids per day.
The ladybug will remain in the larval stage for about 4-7 weeks. All this time, the ladybug larva is very mobile, because it is in constant search of food. The ladybug larva then develops into a pupa and attaches itself to the plant. As it develops, it begins to acquire everything characteristic features full-fledged insect. After about 10 days, a fully formed adult individual emerges from the cocoon.
It is still a mystery why the ladybug is called that. Perhaps it was called that because the ladybug insect is capable of secreting “milk” - a poisonous yellow liquid that scares away enemies. And she was probably nicknamed “God’s” for her harmless character and her help in preserving the harvest by destroying aphids.
The ladybug insect enjoys great sympathy and respect all over the world. IN different countries ladybug is called by different names. In Germany, Austria and Switzerland, the ladybug is called the "St. Mary's beetle." In England, the USA and Australia - “lady beetle”. In countries Latin America- "St. Anthony's cow." In the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Belarus and Ukraine it is called “sun”. In some countries, monuments are even erected in honor of the ladybug.
There are many beliefs and signs around this insect that foreshadow only good events. There are many legends involving the ladybug. The ladybug is considered a symbol of good luck; in ancient times, people worshiped and idolized this insect. The image of this beetle on clothing or various decorations were considered a talisman. In some cultures, it is forbidden to harm this insect so as not to attract trouble.
The ancient Slavs considered the ladybug to be the messenger of the Sun goddess. It is believed that you should not drive away a ladybug that has landed on you, so as not to frighten away your fortune. If she flies into the house, she brings peace and harmony to it. Even the weather was predicted with its help. This amazing and tiny insect with the simple name ladybug has such universal love.
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Later it turned out that there are more than 1000 species of ladybugs (lat. Coccinellidae) in the world. They live according to different places: some people liked the plants on which aphids are found (these are apparently the laziest, or better yet, pragmatic - food is always close at hand), others have their eye on the indescribable beauty field herbs, while others liked the meadows overlooking the stream, some preferred to sit on aquatic plants.
The most common species appears to be the seven-spotted ladybug (Cocinella septempunctata). Its black breast is decorated with a whitish spot in the anterior corner, and there are seven black dots on the red elytra (three on each elytra and one common scute). It is found in Europe North Africa, Asia and feeds on aphids.
According to the Ladybug Atlas, you may encounter a ladybug with the number of spots from two to twenty-six.
This is what a two-spotted ladybug (Adalia bipunctata) looks like.
It is curious that this particular ladybug was approved as the national insect of Latvia in 1991 by the Entomological Society of Latvia. She is useful, slow by nature, but this does not prevent her from defending herself well - precisely thanks to appearance and behavior she is so loved in Latvia. In Latvian it is called marite, which is the name of the Latvian ancient deity Mara, who embodies earthly power.
And so - with 22 points (Psyllobora vigintiduopunctata).
Recently I read about an amazing cow (Ailocaria hexaspilota Hope), the pattern on the elytra of which is truly worthy of surprise and philosophical treatises. This type of ladybug can only be found here in the south. Far East. She first lives on bird cherry, and by the end of May she moves to Manchurian nut. He loves to eat leaf beetles. It is also surprising that flocks of amazing cows accumulate during the wintering period. Imagine how beautiful it turns out!