Ladybug “Coccinellidae”

Coccinellidae is a family of beetles, known variously as ladybirds (UK, Ireland, Australia, Pakistan, South Africa, New Zealand, India, Malta), ladybugs (North America), or lady beetles (preferred by some scientists). Lesser-used names include ladyclock, lady cow, and lady fly.

They are small insects, ranging from 1 mm to 10 mm (0.04 to 0.4 inches), and are commonly yellow, orange, or scarlet with small black spots on their wing covers, with black legs, head and antennae. A very large number of species are mostly or entirely black, grey, or brown and may be difficult for non-entomologists to recognize as coccinellids (and, conversely, there are many small beetles that are easily mistaken as such, like tortoise beetles).

Coccinellids are found worldwide, with over 5,000 species described, more than 450 native to North America alone.

A few species are pests in North America and Europe, but they are generally considered useful insects as many species feed on aphids or scale insects, which are pests in gardens, agricultural fields, orchards, and similar places. The Mall of America, for instance, releases thousands of ladybugs into its indoor park as a natural means of pest control for its gardens.

A common myth is that the number of spots on its back indicates its age.

Ladybug Biology

Coccinella transversalis, elytra in the open position
Basic anatomy of a ladybird
Mid-larva stage
Third instar larva, Harmonia axyridis
Pupal stage
Eggs with the head of a match for scale

Coccinellids are typically predators of Hemiptera such as aphids and scale insects, though conspecific larvae and eggs can also be important resources when alternative prey are scarce. Members of the subfamily Epilachninae are herbivores, and can be very destructive agricultural pests (e.g., the Mexican bean beetle). While predatory species are often used as biological control agents, introduced species of ladybirds (such as Harmonia axyridis or Coccinella septempunctata in North America) outcompete and displace native coccinellids and become pests in their own right.

Coccinellids are often brightly colored to ward away potential predators. This phenomenon is called aposematism and works because predators learn by experience to associate certain prey phenotypes with a bad taste (or worse). Mechanical stimulation (such as by predator attack) causes “reflex bleeding” in both larval and adult ladybird beetles, in which an alkaloid toxin is exuded through the joints of the exoskeleton, deterring feeding. Ladybugs, as well as other Coccinellids are known to spray a toxin that is venomous to certain mammals and other insects when threatened.

Most coccinellids overwinter as adults, aggregating on the south sides of large objects such as trees or houses during the winter months, dispersing in response to increasing day length in the spring. In Harmonia axyridis, eggs hatch in 34 days from clutches numbering from a few to several dozen. Depending on resource availability, the larvae pass through four instars over 1014 days, after which pupation occurs. After a teneral period of several days, the adults become reproductively active and are able to reproduce again, although they may become reproductively quiescent if eclosing late in the season. Total life span is 12 years on average.

It is thought that certain species of Coccinellids 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.

Ladybug Habitats

Most coccinellids are beneficial to gardeners in general, as they feed on aphids, scale insects, mealybugs, and mites throughout the winter. As in many insects, ladybugs in temperate regions enter diapause during the winter, so they often are among the first insects to appear in the spring. Some species (e.g., Hippodamia convergens) gather into groups and move to higher land, such as a mountains, to enter diapause. Predatory ladybugs are usually found on plants 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. Ladybugs are cosmopolitan in distribution, as are their prey.

Ladybugs also require a source of pollen for food and are attracted to specific types of plants. The most popular ones any type of mustard plant, as well as other early blooming nectar and pollen sources, like buckwheat, cilantro, red or crimson clover, and legumes like vetches. Also, early aphid sources, like bronze fennel, dill, cilantro, caraway, angelica, tansy, yarrow, of the wild carrot family, Apiaceae. Other plants that also attract ladybugs include coreopsis, cosmos (especially the white ones), dandelions, and scented geraniums.

Do not use spraying insecticides; ladybugs are sensitive to most synthetic insecticides. If food sources are limited, oviposition is reduced. A larva uses its sharp jaws to crush an aphid`s body and sucks out the aphid`s juices.

Ladybug Ladybugs as household pests

Ladybug Infestations

In the United States, ladybugs usually begin to appear indoors in the fall. They leave their summer feeding sites in fields, forests and yards looking for a place to spend the winter. Typically when temperatures warm to the mid 60′s in the late afternoon, following a period of cooler weather, they will swarm onto or into buildings illuminated by the sun. Swarms of ladybugs fly to buildings in September through November depending on location and weather conditions. Also, homes or buildings near fields or woods are more prone to infestation.

The presence of ladybugs in grape harvests can cause ladybird taint in wines produced from the grapes.

Ladybug Human Impact

Ladybugs generally do not injure humans but are mainly a nuisance. However, recent studies suggest that ladybugs can cause some reactions, such as eye irritation or asthma. Dr. Linda Gilkeson, states “You bet those little critters can bite! They don’t have any kind of venom or irritating saliva (like mosquitoes, black flies, etc.), but they are just big enough for us to feel it when they pinch our skin.” The ladybugs emit an acrid odor and can stain surfaces with their yellowish secretions; this defense reaction known as “reflex bleeding,” which prevents predators, such as birds, from eating them. However, in a home, the fluid can stain walls and fabrics. “This substance actually is ladybug blood,” says Tedders, a researcher from the United States Department of Agriculture. “It comes out the joints of the legs. Ladybugs are not structure-damaging pests and they will enter the wall of buildings through cracks and crevices.”

Ladybug Prevention and Control

Ladybugs are natural predators to many pest insects, including aphids, scale insects and other sap feeders (an adult ladybug can eat up to 1,000 aphids a day). As such, they are primarily viewed as beneficial insects. Use of insecticides may reduce the ladybug population and may cause increased damages to crops as well as garden plants.

Preventing the ladybugs from entering the building is the best approach to keeping them from becoming a nuisance in the fall and winter. Caulking the exterior cracks and crevices and filling the larger openings with cement, urethane foam or copper mesh is a permanent way to keep them out. The time to do this is late spring or summer, before the adults begin flying to buildings in search of over wintering sites. Repair damaged window screens and installing screening behind attic vents which are common entry points for the ladybugs. Install tight-fitting door sweeps or thresholds at the base of all exterior entry doors. Vacuuming would be the easiest way to collect them once they are indoors and if you wish to release them outdoors you should place a handkerchief inside the hose. Using insecticides indoors for control of the ladybugs is not typically recommended unless the infestation is heavy and is a perennial problem. They like to burrow underneath insulation and once established they would breed over the winter months.

Ladybug Coccinellids in popular culture

Coccinellids are and have for very many years been favorite insects of children. The insects had many regional names (now mostly disused) such as the lady-cow, may-bug, golden-knop, golden-bugs (Suffolk); and variations on Bishop-Barnaby (Norfolk dialect) Barnabee, Burnabee, and the Bishop-that-burneth. The etymology is unclear but it may be from St. Barnabas feast in June, when the insect appears or a corruption of “Bishop-that-burneth”, from the fiery elytra of the beetles.

The ladybird was immortalised in the still-popular children’s nursery rhyme Ladybird, Ladybird:

Ladybird, ladybird, fly away home
Your house is on fire and your children are gone
All except one, and that’s Little Anne
For she has crept under the warming pan.

In parts of Northern Europe, tradition says that one’s wish is granted if a ladybird lands on oneself (this tradition lives on in North America, where children capture a ladybug, make a wish, and then “blow it away” back home to make the wish come true). 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 some cultures they are referred to as fortune bugs.

In Russia, 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 mariehne (“Mary’s hen”), is asked by children to fly to ‘our lord in heaven and ask for fairer weather in the morning’.

The name that the insect bears in the various languages of Europe is mythic. In this, as in other cases, the Virgin Mary has supplanted Freyja, the fertility goddess of Norse mythology; so that freyjuhna (Old Norse) and Frouehenge have been changed into marihne (Norwegian) and Marienvoglein (German), which corresponds with Our Lady’s Bird; similarly, in Serbian the common name is bubamara (buba-Mara, Mary-beetle). In Spanish its most common name is mariquita, also a reference to the Virgin Mary. The esteem with which these insects are regarded has roots in ancient beliefs.

In Irish, the insect is called bn D or “God’s little cow” and in Welsh, the term buwch goch gota is used, containing the word ‘buwch’ meaning “cow”; similarly, in Croatian it is called Boja ovc(ica (“God’s little sheep”) and in Romanian ga(rga(rit,a(, buburuza(, vaca-Domnului (“Lord’s cow”), boul Domnului (“Lord’s oxen”) or ga(ina lui Dumnezeu (“God’s hen”). Moreover, in Romanian it is also called ma(rie, ma(riut,a( or ma(ma(rut,a(, terms derived from the personal name Mary (cf. the Norwegian, German and Serbian names for the ladybug).

In France it is known as bte bon Dieu, “the Good Lord’s animal”, and in Russia, (“God’s little cow”), while in both Hebrew and Yiddish, it is called “Moshe Rabbenu’s (i.e. Moses’s) little cow” or “Moshe Rabbenu’s little horse”, apparently an adaptation of the Russian name, or sometimes “Little Messiah”.

In Iran, two Persian words are used; both meaning “shoe cobbler”. There is an old story about a woman who tells her husband upon his return from work that a “cobbler” spent the whole day with her and in fact sat on her lap. Hearing this, he flies in to a rage and kills his unfaithful wife. Just then, he notices a lady bird walking in the room and he cries out “Oh my God, that kind of cobbler”.

In Greece, ladybirds are called (paschalitsa), because they are found abundantly in Eastertime, along with paschalia, the Common Lilac plant, which flowers at the same time.

In Malta, the ladybird is called nannakola, and little children sing: Nannakola, mur l-iskola/Aqbad sig.g.u u ibda og?la (Ladybird go to school, get a chair and start jumping).

In Turkey, ladybirds are called ug(ur bceg(i, literally meaning luck bug. When a ladybird lands on children, they wish something and sing U u bceg(im, annen sana terlik pabu alacak (Fly fly my bug, your mother will buy you slippers and shoes).

In Finnish, ladybird is, for its blood red color, called leppkerttu, translating to Blood Gertrud from the ancient Baltic-Finnic meaning blood or the word lepp (that means alder in modern Finnish). An alternative name is lepppirkko. These differ by the female name at the end.

In Dutch, the ladybird is called lieveheersbeestje, translating to Our Dear Lord’s little creature.

In France, ladybirds are considered to be bringers of good weather.

Ladybug As a logo

In Bulgarian, it is also called “bozha kravichka” (God’s little cow) or, “kalinka” on the account of its red colour. Bold colors and simple shapeand its non-threatening naturehave led to use as a logo for a wide range of organizations and companies including these:

* Symbol of the Dutch Foundation Against Senseless Violence
* Ladybird Books (owned by Pearson PLC)
* Ladybird range of children’s clothing sold by Woolworths.co.uk and formerly by the (now defunct) Woolworth’s chain store in the UK
* Polish supermarket chain Biedronka
* Estonian mobile operator EMT
* Software development firm Axosoft.
* Symbol of the Finnish Swedish People’s Party.

In addition, it has been chosen as

* State insect of: Delaware, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New York, Ohio, and Tennessee.
* An “official national mascot” for Alpha Sigma Alpha, a national sorority in the United States

Ladybug In music

* The British band XTC included a song called “Ladybird,” an affectionate ode to the insect, on their 1983 album Mummer.
* The British band The Fall included a song called “Ladybird (Green Grass),” on their 1993 album The Infotainment Scan.
* The British vocal trio The Ladybirds frequently appeared on The Benny Hill Show.
* The Alternative metal band Breaking Benjamin has a song titled “Lady Bug” on the So Cold EP.
* American duo Billy and Lillie had a top-40 hit in 1959 with “Lucky Ladybug”.
* The Finnish fusion rock band 22-Pistepirkko has got its name from the Finnish name for the 22-spot ladybird.
* The British band Tears for Fears released the song “Ladybird” on their 2004 album, Everybody Loves a Happy Ending. The song includes elements of the nursery rhyme, Ladybird, Ladybird.
* Danish pop singer Freya had a major national hit with her song “Yellow Ladybird” in 1999.
* The Presidents of the United States of America released a song titled “Ladybug” on their album These Are the Good Times People in 2008.
* Louisiana-based band Agents of Oblivion included a song titled “Ladybug” on their sole, eponymous album in 2000.
* The Japanese band The Pillows released the single “Ladybird Girl” in 2007, it was later featured on their 2008 album Pied Piper.

Ladybug Other

* The Grouchy Ladybug is a book by Eric Carle.
* Ladybugs is a 1992 movie starring Rodney Dangerfield.
* In the mid 1980s, presenter and TV producer Muriel Young, made two series of programmes entitled ‘Ladybirds’, a Channel 4 programme from Mike Mansfield’s independent company, in which she interviewed female singers, including Barbara Dickson, Elaine Paige, and Kiki Dee, as well as American and French stars Rita Coolidge and Jane Birkin.
* Lady Bug is a 1981 arcade game by Universal Games, styled after Pac-Man.
* Giorno Giovana, the protagonist of Vento Aureo, the fifth chapter of the popular manga series, JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure, often wears ladybird shaped jewelry, and his Stand, Gold Experience also hosts insignias of ladybirds as well. These symbolically refer to a popular belief that ladybirds brings good luck, yet bring misfortune to those that kill ladybirds, and also refer to Gold Experience’s power to return, negate and inflict the same degree of harm inflicted back to those that dare attack Giorno’s creations.
* A ladybug named Francis is one of the characters in the 1998 Pixar movie A Bug’s Life.

Ladybug Scientific classification

Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Class: Insecta
Order: Coleoptera
Superfamily: Cucujoidea
Family: Coccinellidae
Latreille, 1807

Subfamilies
Chilocorinae
Coccidulinae
Coccinellinae
Epilachninae
Scymininae
Sticholotidinae
etc. see list of Coccinellidae genera

Source: Wikipedia