Ladybugs are welcome companions. Both in popular belief and in gardening culture, it has an excellent reputation as a heavenly messenger and beneficial. We will introduce you to the cute little dot beetle with all its interesting features.
The seven-point ladybug is the one we see most often
Why it's called Ladybug
The melodious name of the ladybug has its origins in a well-meaning popular belief: it is attributed the role of the messenger of Mary, the Mother of God. But people have also made other positive associations with the pretty beetle over the centuries: That’s how it is considered to be
- patron saint of children
- as a wish-fulfiller when flying off the hand
- as a weather forecaster by departure or staying seated
- as prophet for virgins, counting the years until marriage
Its taxonomy
Ladybugs are an amazingly powerful axis in the animal world:
- They form their own family within the order of beetles
- This includes 360 different genera with over 6000 species worldwide
- In Europe, 75 genera with about 250 species are represented
The most common species are the seven-spot ladybird, the Asian ladybird, the twenty-two-spot ladybird, the four-spot ladybird, and the ten-spot ladybird.
By the way: It is a misconception that the number of dots on the elytra indicate the years of life of the beetle. Rather, the number varies by species and does not change throughout the adult beetle's lifetime.
his living space
The ladybug is distributed worldwide, but feels most at home in warm, tropical to subtropical climates. That is why it is represented there in a much more diverse way than here in Europe. It lives in forests, meadows, heaths and moors, but fortunately also in our gardens. Especially natural in those that are managed as naturally as possible and with a lot of plant wealth.
How he lives
Ladybugs usually have a one-year, but sometimes two-year life cycle. Depending on the weather and food conditions, an adult beetle can survive a second winter. From this you can already see that ladybirds are among the beetles that overwinter as imagos and not as pupated larvae.
However, they go through the usual stages of development:
- egg
- larva
- puppet
- imago
egg
At the end of April to the beginning of May, the females lay up to 400 eggs, mostly on the underside of the leaves of suitable plants. Depending on the weather, it takes 5-8 days for the larvae to hatch.
larva
As a larva, the ladybug lives for 30 to 60 days, in which it molts 3-4 times. Depending on the species, the larvae can look very different.
puppet
After the larval development stages have passed, the pupation time comes. The larva retreats into a mummy chrysalis, sticking curved to leaves, twigs or trunks. The metamorphosis into the finished beetle takes 6-9 days.
imago
However, the hatched beetle is not yet fully developed. For example, its elytra still have to harden, which is when the species-specific dot coloration develops.
Ladybug as a beneficial insect
A word about its beneficial function: the ladybug is above all a hard-working aphid eater, which is very beneficial for hobby gardeners.