We love… ladybirds!
This is the time of year when ladybirds start emerging from their winter hibernation. But how much do you know about these colourful little creatures?
There are 46 different species of ladybird in the UK – and 3,500 across the world!
The most common types in this country are the seven-spot ladybird and the two-spot ladybird. They both have black spots on red wing cases.
Ladybirds are brightly coloured to warn predators not to eat them. Fortunately for these little insects, they don’t seem to taste very nice at all!
They like eating even smaller insects like greenfly and blackfly. This makes ladybirds popular with farmers, because the smaller insects eat their crops!
Ladybirds often live for only a year, but they can gobble up thousands of other insects in that time.
Not all ladybirds are red with black spots. Some are yellow, others are orange, and some are almost completely black.
Ladybirds are flying beetles, and usually grow no longer than one centimetre. Females are often larger than males.
Ladybirds are known as ladybugs in the USA. They have ‘lady’ in their name after the Virgin Mary, who often wears red cloaks in old paintings.
Photo credit: AdobeStock/yellowj
