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Coccinellidae is a family of beetles, known variously as ladybirds (British English, Australian English, South African English), ladybugs (North American English) 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.
BiologyCoccinellids 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 venomous toxin 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, and dispersing in response to increasing day length in the spring. In Harmonia axyridis, eggs hatch in 3–4 days from clutches numbering from a few to several dozen. Depending on resource availability, the larvae pass through four instars over 10–14 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.
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.
HabitatsMost coccinellids are beneficial to gardeners in general, as they feed on aphids, scale insects, mealybugs, and mites throughout the year. 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.
Coccinellids as household pestsAlthough native species of coccinellids are typically considered benign, in North America the multicolored Asian lady beetle (Harmonia axyridis), introduced in the twentieth century to control aphids on agricultural crops, has become a serious household pest in some regions owing to its habit of overwintering in structures. It is similarly acquiring a pest reputation in Europe, where it is called the "Multicoloured Asian Ladybird" (In Britain: "Harlequin Ladybird") (see
Coccinellids in popular cultureCoccinellids 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 is 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 is wish granted if a ladybird lands on oneself (this tradition lives on in North America, where children capture a ladybird, 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 lucky bugs (Turkish: ugur böcegi).
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 mariehøne ("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 Freyjuhaena and Frouehenge have been changed into Marienvoglein, which corresponds with Our Lady's Bird. The esteem with which these insects are regarded has roots in ancient beliefs.
In Irish, the insect is called bóín Dé — 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 Božja ovcica ("God's little sheep"). In France it is known as bête à bon Dieu, "the Good Lord's animal",[Born to Kvetch, Michael Wex, St. Martin's Press, New York, 2005, ISBN 0-312-30741-1]Clarifyme
In Iran, two Farsi words are used; ??? ???? and ???? ???, 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 pas?a??tsa (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 sang: Nannakola, mur l-iskola/Aqbad siggu u ibda oghla (Ladybird go to school, get a chair and start jumping).
In Finnish, ladybird is called leppäkerttu, translating to blood-Gertrud, which refers to the red color. An alternative name is leppäpirkko. These differ by the female name at the end (Pirkko refers to Bridget).
As a logoBold colors and simple shape - and its non-threatening nature - have led to use as a logo for a wide range of organisations and companies including these:
- Symbol of the Dutch Foundation Against Senseless Violence logo.
- Ladybird Books (owned by Pearson PLC)
- Ladybird range of children's clothing formerly sold by the (now defunct) Woolworth's chain store in the UK
- Polish supermarket chain Biedronka
- Estonian mobile operator EMT[1]
- 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, Pennsylvania, and Tennessee.
- An "official national mascot"[2] for Alpha Sigma Alpha, a national sorority in the United States
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 Alternative metal band Breaking Benjamin has a song titled "Lady Bug" on the So Cold EP.
- 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.
Other- The Bad-Tempered Ladybird is a book by Eric Carle.
- Ladybugs is a 1992 movie starring Rodney Dangerfield.
- A ladybird appears in each of artists Michael Quinlyn-Nixon's illustrations.
- In the mid 1980's, 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.
- U.S. President Lyndon Baynes Johnson's wife was universally known by her nickname, "Ladybird" Johnson (which the couple may have devised to give her the same initials as her husband, "LBJ").
Gallery
Close up of Propylea quatuordecimpunctata, the P-14 coccinellid.
Pupal stage of a coccinellid
Hippodamia overwintering en masse (Colorado Springs, Colorado)
Neoharmonia venusta
Anatis on a pine cone
Coccinella species from the U.S.
P-14 coccinellid consuming an aphid
Larvae just hatched from their eggs
Coccinella septempunctata
Harmonia axyridis deploying wings
Hippodamia hiding within a flower bud
Lady beetle larva eating an aphid
Coccinella septempunctata (Canada)
Coccinella on peony (Paeonia) bud; Renton, Washington, U.S.
File:Steelblue Ladybird (Halmus chalybeus) on leaf.jpg|Steelblue ladybird (Halmus chalybeus) on an oak leaf
File:Twicestabbed1.JPG|Twice-stabbed lady beetle on a shubert chokecherry tree
Copyright Citations
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