In many cultures, ladybugs are thought to bring good luck. In Sweden, a ladybug landing on a young lady’s hand means she will marry soon. In England, they are thought to be an omen of a good harvest. Some other cultures believe that if you kill a ladybug, then sadness and bad luck will follow you. As with many “old wives tales”, there’s a grain of truth to the myth, or at least a desire to lead behavior in a particular direction. Most farmers and home gardeners consider ladybugs a welcome visitor and something to be protected rather than exterminated.
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| Convergent Lady Beetle |
Ladybugs are beneficial in gardens and agricultural fields. Rather than eating or damaging plants, they are carnivores that feast on plant pests like mealy bugs, mites, and aphids. This behavior may have even led to their common name. Legend says that during the Middle Ages, European crops were threatened by many plant-eating insect pests. Farmers prayed to the Virgin Mary to save their crops and soon after, they began seeing black-spotted red bugs doing battle with the other insects. The crops survived and as the legend spread, people began to refer to the helpful bugs as “our lady’s birds”. Over time, they became known as “ladybugs”, “ladybirds”, or “lady beetles”.
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| Seven-spotted Lady Beetle |
Ladybugs are insects in the order Coleoptera (beetles). Like other insects, they have six legs, wings, a muscular thorax, and an abdomen, but most of these are tucked away under the ladybugs’ rigid coverings. The most visible of these coverings are the Elytra, on which you will find each ladybug’s typical colors. These are actually the ladybug’s forewings that have hardened to surround and protect the delicate hindwings. The elytra must be lifted to expose the hindwings so the ladybug can fly.
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| Seven-spotted Lady Beetle Lifting Elytra |
There are several thousand different species of ladybugs worldwide; they inhabit most temperate or tropical climates. A few hundred species are found in North America, and several of those have been found at Hagerman NWR. Not all ladybugs are red with black spots, and not everything with the same general coloring is a ladybug.
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| Swamp Milkweed Leaf Beetle (not a Lady Beetle) |
Like butterflies, ladybugs undergo complete metamorphosis. An adult ladybug lays a cluster of 10-15 eggs on the underside of a leaf in an area where she has found aphids or other small plant-eating bugs. The eggs hatch into larvae that look similar to tiny caterpillars, but with six legs. Unlike butterflies, the larvae’s diet is the same as an adult ladybug’s.
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| Ladybug Larva |
The larvae grow and shed their “skin” (exoskeleton) repeatedly until they are ready to pupate. After shedding for the last time, individual larvae are enclosed in a new covering, not unlike a chrysalis. Over the next few days, they complete the transformation into an adult ladybug. From egg to adult takes less than a month and an adult can live a year or more.
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| Pupating Lady Beetle |
Ladybugs are generally harmless to people, although one group can be considered pests. Asian Lady Beetles are becoming more common in Grayson County and can be a mild nuisance in winter, when they find their way inside our homes. All ladybugs can release a nasty-smelling fluid when threatened but the Asian Lady Beetles are larger than other ladybugs in the area, so that fluid is more noticeable. These ladybugs can be recognized by their orange legs – other local ladybugs have black legs.
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| Asian Lady Beetle on Soapberry |
If you want to find ladybugs at Hagerman National Wildlife Refuge, you need look no further than the Butterfly Garden, where they help us keep the host and nectar plants pest free. You can also find them anywhere wildflowers grow, busily climbing up and down stems and over and under leaves and blossoms. I particularly like Silliman Road and L Pad for finding ladybugs. They like warmer weather and will not fly if it is under 55 degrees. The colors on the head and the number and pattern of spots on the elytra are helpful in identifying which ladybug species you are looking at. Think small and enjoy your search! You have no idea what else you may find out there.
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| Polished Lady Beetle |
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