Page 27 - Outdoor Oklahoma - May/June 2021 Issue

Some COOL FACTS

about the Ladybird Beetle:

• They are commonly called ladybugs, but technically these beetles are not
true bugs.
• Ladybird beetles are usually colored orange, red or yellow, with black spots ®
and head.
• They mostly eat aphids and smaller garden pests, making them a gardener’s friend.
• It is in the family Coccinellidae, from the Latin word for “scarlet.”
vERONICA1206/CC-bYNC4, EOL.ORG • There are more than 5,000 species of ladybird beetles.

• These beetles have variable numbers of spots, stripes or no markings,
depending on species.
• Ladybird beetles are found in temperate zones on every continent except Antarctica.
• It is a myth that the number of spots on a ladybird beetle tells its age.
• The dome-shaped back plates are actually two wing covers; ladybird beetles do fly.
• seven-spotted ladybird beetles are the most common type in America.
• seven-spotted ladybirds were brought to North America in the mid-1900s to
control aphids.
Color a Critter: Ladybird Beetle

DANIELAC173/FLICkR CC-bYsA2

kATHY kEATLEY GARvEY/U. OF CALIFORNIA ANR

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