Sweet, Sweet Ladybugs!!

So while at a park on a beautiful day, a friend of mine asked me “what do ladybugs do”? And my response was….. (in my cool voice) ….“Well they eat aphids, which are a pest & ladybugs are a beneficial insect”. I also proceeded to tell my friend that “boy ladybugs have spots, but not the girls”. At that moment I was't lying, but while driving away I was thinking about our conversation and I second guessed myself….and found out I did lie!!!! I am a jerk!!! In other words I thought I knew a lot…but to be honest I know nothing!!! So, my friend, here is my way of making up the lie…+ I learned something and now so can you!!

Coccinellidae AKA The Ladybug
Beneficial garden ladybugs for controlling pests in your garden are the most popular and widely used beneficial insects for commercial and home use. Ladybugs are capable of consuming up to 50 to 60 aphids per day but will also eat a variety of other insects and larvae including scales, mealy bugs, leaf hoppers, mites, and various types of soft-bodied insects. Ladybugs, also called lady beetles or ladybird beetles, are a very beneficial group of insects. Ladybugs are natural enemies of many insect pests and it has been demonstrated that a single ladybug may consume as many as 5,000 aphids in its lifetime.

Do the spots on a ladybug tell what sex they are?
Nope, that is another interesting idea and fun to pretend but ladybugs of either sex can be found with the same number of spots and same type of spot pattern. You can also find ladybugs in a given species with varying spot patterns and shell color variations having nothing to do with the sex of the ladybugs. Several colors within one species are called color morphs. Realistically you need to be a ladybug expert to the sexes apart and even then many times this can't be determined without dissecting the critter.

More interesting ladybug facts:
In the past, doctors would mash ladybugs and put them in your mouth to cure a toothache
In Switzerland, ladybugs are called “good God’s little fairy.”
You can fit 80,000 ladybugs into a gallon jug
Male ladybugs are smaller than female ladybugs Ladybugs are the official state insect of Delaware, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Ohio and Tennessee
They can live for as many as three years
A ladybug beats its wings 85 times per second when it flies
Their spots fade as they get older
The spotted wing covers on ladybugs are made from a material called chitin, the same as our fingernails

Helpful Websites
Ladybug Spots: http://everything-ladybug.com/ladybug-spots.html
Ladybugs are a garden solder: http://www.beneficialinsects101.com/ladybugs.html