Ladybird Facts

There are over five thousand species of Coccinellidae, the family in which the Ladybird belongs. They are small, between one and ten millimetres and display a range of colours including red, orange, yellow and black on their wing covers. These covers are often spotted with black with few exceptions. There are also many species of Coccinellidae which are completely one colour which can make them difficult to distinguish from other species of insect. The number of spots on a Ladybirds back does not represent its age.

Ladybird Feeding Habits

Some Ladybirds feed on pests which is considered to be very handy although there are some species which are plant eaters and can cause crop damage if population numbers are not kept down by natural predators. The main predators of Ladybirds are usually birds or a range of smaller animals such as frogs and dragon flies. Ladybirds have adapted the ability to feed on alternative foods when needed such as nectar, honeydew and water.

Ladybird Predator

In some predatory Ladybirds their mandibles are powerfully built and often used to rip and crush prey, where as in some their mandibles have been adapted to form a tube like a hypodermic needle through which they can inject enzymes and ultimate suck out the liquidized body contents of their victims. Whereas herbivorous Ladybirds use an adapted cutting edge to scrape and a comb edge if they’re fungal based feeders.

Ladybird Life Cycle

The Ladybird life cycle begins with an egg which hatches to produce a larva which grows and forms a pupa which then metamorphoses into an adult. Across the range of species eggs can be laid in clusters or singly and there are varying rates of growth the predatory examples often maturing more quickly.

Click the image to the left to breed your own Ladybirds