Ladybugs Are Beetles, Not Bugs

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Ladybugs live all over the world. There are about 5,000 species and more than 450 of them are native to North America. Also known as ladybugs or lady beetles. It is part of the coccinelid (scientific name) or beetle family, which means small beetle. Beetles live on every continent except Antarctica. Beetles are commonly found on flowering plants, peas, alfalfa, and beans (legumes)

Gorgeous ladybug

These tiny winged insects can range in length from one millimeter, or 1/16 inch, to 10 millimeters, or 3/8 inch. Ladybugs also come in different colors. They are usually red, orange or yellow in color and have small black spots on the back of their bodies and on their wing coverts. The beetle has a shell called the shield, which is a hard shell in which we see its spots and colors. The number of spots on a beetle indicates the type of beetle, but there is no difference in the number of spots on these small insects.

They have a very small head and have mouthparts, antennae (which are their sensors) and compound eyes that help them see better. Beetles have powerful jaws in their mouths called mandibles. Their antennae help beetles sense smell, helping them find prey and mates. Using their antennae, beetles can also touch and taste.

The pronotum between the head and wings is usually mottled grey, and is part of the thorax. The thorax, the middle part of the body, consists of three pairs of legs. The wings are also attached to the thorax. The beetle’s abdomen contains the digestive, reproductive, and excretory organs. Ladybugs have black legs. They have a round-oval shape, and are not very scary to look at for insects, however they are predatory insects.

Beetles have two sets of wings. Only one pair is used for flight. The second pair protects its flight wings, and is very strong, designed to protect its hind wings. When a beetle is not flying, its hind wings, which it uses for flight, are covered by a pair of wings called elytra. When they fly, their elytra open, allowing their wings to move.

Unusual facts

Ladybugs are insects beneficial to humans.
The beetle is considered one of the beneficial insects for humans because it eats many insects that are known to eat plants and destroy crops.

The ability to hide

The beetle’s blood is yellow in color and has a very strong odor that acts as a deterrent to predators. Birds are the number one threat to beetles. But beetles can play dead until the predator threat is over.

Ladybug Stages

Like beetles, beetles undergo a complete metamorphosis with separate stages of egg, larvae, pupa, and adult. Beetle eggs and larvae resemble clusters of small orange footballs. They can lay anywhere from a few eggs to dozens of eggs. They usually lay their eggs on tree leaves near where the caterpillars can easily reach food sources. The eggs hatch within 3 to 5 days. When the eggs hatch, they look like small black crocodiles with orange spots. These insects move very quickly and have a great appetite. The larvae feed on aphids and other soft-bodied insects for 2 to 3 weeks. They can grow to about half an inch in length over a period of two to three weeks.

After the larvae grow to full size, they attach their tails to a plant leaf or plant stem. They then begin metamorphosis, as the caterpillar’s skin splits down its back and reveals the pupa. The pupa is about the size of an adult beetle, but is completely protected and encased until it becomes an adult. They usually pupate on the upper side of the leaf, where they turn into adult beetles in 7 to 10 days. Females are generally larger than males.

From larvae to adults, everyone enjoys a diet consisting of small, soft-bodied insects. During the pupal stage, one ladybird can eat up to 400 medium-sized insects. Ladybugs live for about a year, but some can live up to three years. Within a year they will typically eat more than 5,000 aphids. The caterpillar eats about 25 aphids per day. Adult beetles eat about 50 aphids per day. Their voracious appetite helps them play an important role in controlling pests that attack agriculture.

How are ladybugs useful?

From gardens to crops, from houseplants to garden fields, it is ladybugs that help control pests that would otherwise destroy these plants. Ladybugs are used as biological pest control. They protect the garden from parasitic insects and help reduce the use of harmful pesticides that can be used to kill invasive insects that eat plants.

Want to Buy Ladybugs?

Some people buy ladybugs to protect their plants from insect infestation. There are a few things you should know before spending money using this alternative to pesticides:

Ladybugs purchased for this purpose will do best in greenhouses, where they cannot fly easily. In an outdoor garden, it’s normal for beetles to fly away. This is because beetles are usually chilled, which puts the insects into a type of hibernation called diapause. When they arrive at your home and are released, the cold water wakes them up and they instinctively fly away in search of food.

If you buy a ladybugs, look for one that the seller says is pre-conditioned. This means that the beetle was fed before shipping. This can increase the likelihood of them remaining around your plants in the garden if released.

Make sure to buy ladybugs local to your area.

Ladybugs should be released when there are a healthy number of insects to feed on. If you release them before there are enough insects around, the beetles will fly off in search of more food. If there are too many aphids, the beetles will remain, but they will not be able to eat enough of the insects to prevent plant damage. When the number of aphids is neither too low nor too high, it is better to leave the insects behind.

Mist your plants lightly to moisten the leaves and release the ladybugs at dusk. These insects will likely sleep on your foliage during the night and are ready to feed on aphids during the day, encouraging them to stick around your garden.

Typical beetle myth

It is believed that the beetles are colorful as much as they are to ward off predators. In nature, predators naturally avoid certain markings and colors because they know that these colors can indicate poisonous or bad-tasting animals. Predators learn to avoid these colors and those with these markings and colors are protected from being eaten by these enemies. Color warning is known as aposematism. Ladybugs are associated with bad taste.

Ladybugs in Outerspace

In the fall, ladybugs may feed on pollen as well as aphids, as the pollen helps provide fat during the cold winter months while they hibernate. During the winter, beetles may fly widely into mountain valleys and overwinter under fallen leaves or bark. They will return to the valleys in the spring. Hundreds will live under trees, under fences or rocks, in logs, under ground cover, and in buildings. They can also hide in places in people’s homes, such as attics or spaces inside walls, until the cold weather passes. In the spring, beetles are usually present.

Ladybugs are attracted to umbrella flowers such as dill, fennel, coriander, angelica, caraway, yarrow, tansy, wild carrot, geranium, hops, and dandelion. Ladybugs are very sensitive to pesticides.

In 1999, NASA sent four beetles into space along with some aphids to find out what happens in zero gravity. Scientists know that beetles climb stems to eat aphids. Gravity helps aphids fall from the stem to escape the beetles. In space, scientists wanted to know if aphids were able to escape without the help of gravity. By the end of the mission, the beetles survived and were able to eat aphids in space. They named four beetles after the Beatles, John, Paul, Ringo and George.

The ladybugs got its name during the Middle Ages. People prayed to the Virgin Mary, watching helplessly as their crops were destroyed by swarms of plant-eating insects. The beetles arrived, the insects ate them, and people gave the little beetles to the Virgin Mary, calling them the ladyworm, which was eventually shortened to the ladybug.

Interesting facts about ladybugs

• Ladybugs naturally defend themselves by secreting odors from the fluid in the joints of their legs. This liquid is very offensive to predators.
• After handling ladybugs, people should avoid touching their eyes to avoid any allergic reaction.
• Although most ladybugs eat insects, some species eat plants and are considered insectivorous.
• The French call ladybugs “les betes du bon Dieu,” which means creatures of God. People in Australia will be asking ladybugs about good weather for a long time. The Swiss had a custom of telling their children that children were brought by beetles, and calling them God’s little fairies. In Germany they are called Marienkaffer or Mary’s Beetles. People counted the spots on a beetle, and believed that fewer than seven spots meant a great harvest. In other parts of Europe, there was a folk tale that if a beetle crawled onto a young woman’s hand, she would be married within a year. In the United States, Delaware, New Hampshire, Massachusetts, Tennessee, and Ohio call the beetle their official insect. In the United Kingdom, ladybugs are called ladybirds.
• When a ladybug flies, it beats its wings 85 times per second. As they grow older, their spots fade. Beetle wings are made of ketalin, the same material our fingernails are made of.
• The spotted wing coverings on ladybugs are made of a substance called chitin, which is similar to our fingernails.
• Ladybugs do most of their flying in the hottest part of the afternoon.