Lady Bugs

A bit about them:

Everyone knows a ladybug when they see one, or so you'd think...

Ladybugs come in a variety of colours and patterns, often mistaken for other beetles when they're not in their distinctive red with black spot attire.
Lucky to most, these familiar garden guests are sent from the gods and have many magical properties to them.
Surprisingly, there's more than meets the eye to know about the good old Ladybug!

Common Name:

Scientific name:

There are over 6000 species of Lady bug (Including 500 in Australia), so we're gonna be talking very generally in this one.

Closely related to/Family tree:

Weevils, Scarabs and Long horn Beetles.

Status:

Appearance:

Lady Beetles are a well known insect (Not technically a bug) world round, with the most common species having a red shell with a number of black spots, black head with white spots and wings underneath the shell (Or Elytra).
However, what is considered a lady bug actually has nothing to do with the colourations or patterns of the beetle. So Lady bugs actually come in many different colours and with different patterns.

History:

In strong Christian areas of Europe, the Norse origins easily became replaced with a Christian version of origin. Lady Bird now referred to Our Lady; Mother Mary. The common species of Europe that has 7 spots, further encouraged this transition as the 7 spots were said to represent Mary's Seven joys and the classic red colour of their shell was to represent the red dress Mary so often wore in depictions of her. 

In some countries however, the reference is directly to God, as 'Lady bug' in Irish, Polish and Russian translates to 'God's little cow'. In Dutch; 'Little animal of our good lord' or in Hebrew and Yiddish 'Moses' little cow'. Having so many different ties to strong religious figures, the Lady bird of course must have some numinous powers of its own. Various countries and cultures have their own superstitions in relation to the Lady bird, some of which include:

Bringing good luck, the more red, the luckier!

Heralding true loves arrival

Indicating true loves direction when flying away (Conditions apply)

Indicating your wedding within a year

Foretelling the amount of children someone will have

Predicting fortune

In Swiss folklore it is said that it wasn't the stork who brings babies, but the lady bug as they also have strong relation to fertility and birthing.

While some beliefs could be seen to have truthful correlations, others seem to be superstition.

Range:

Feeding style:

As there are so many species of Lady Bug, the Family they belong to covers a very wide range of food options; Fungi, Plants, Bugs, pollen and other Lady Bugs. Most however, eat bugs and insects, supplemented with pollen occasionally.

In the world of agriculture, Lady bugs are pretty helpful farm hands. With most species eating herbivorous bugs, they provide effective and natural pest removal. A favourite of the Lady bug; Aphids, are one of the least favourite to farmers. So a Lady bug in your crops is a welcome guest. Certain companies even breed and sell Lady Bugs on mass for natural pest controls.

The odd species is actually herbivorous itself, so make sure you know which species your dealing with, or you could just be condemning your plants further.

Predators:

The largest predator of Lady bugs are birds. They also fall prey to Parasitoid wasps, frogs, dragonflies and spiders.
Though many creatures know not to prey on lady bugs as their distinctive red shell indicates danger. A symbol true for a lot of animals. This warning is known as aposematism.
If a potential predator were to ignore this sign, the lady bug has a second defence; Bleeding from the knees. 

Known as reflex bleeding, they will secrete a yellow toxin from their joints when physically disturbed. This could make the lady bug look dead or diseased to a potential predator but also carries a bad smell with it.
If all signs are ignored, the predator will quickly find out that that bad smell is backed up by a bad taste. Learning in future not to eat the smelly red bugs.

Nesting/sleeping:

For species that live in more temperate latitudes, avoiding the chill of winter is necessary. Some species migrate towards the polls and others take more to hibernating over winter. Large colonies congregate to areas with high coverage for protection and warmth. 

They enter a state of torpor for several months, using minimal energy. Whilst it's not encouraged to disturb hibernating lady bugs, you could find them hidden under rocks, leaf litter, branches etc.

Mating and Lifecyle: 

Lady bugs have 4 distinct life stages; Egg, larva, Pupa and Adult.

Adult Lady bugs will begin mating as soon as they're out of their Pupa stage in early spring. Using pheromones to attract a mate, copulation can take anywhere between 20 minutes and a day, however the female can still go about her day as the male does his thing behind her.

The female can hold onto the males sperm for up to 3 months, looking for an appropriate spot to lay her eggs. This often entails good coverage from weather and predators, sufficient room for all Larva to move about and plenty of food sources nearby.

Once an appropriate spot is found, she will fertilize the eggs and begin laying. With clutch sizes reaching 50 eggs in extreme circumstances, a mother allows for some to be lost to predation. Her eggs are yellowish white and have a sticky base to attach the stems and undersides of leaves. Some of the eggs will not be fertilized and are there to provide nutrients to the young as they hatch. The ratio of fertilized eggs is related to available food sources, prevalence of predators and weather conditions. 

In just 4-10 days, the eggs hatch into Larva!

The newly hatched Larva will remain still for about an hour while its Exoskeleton hardens.Going off about its day, feeding and gaining in size for pupation. Unlike the adult feeding tactic of chewing and digesting a meal, Larva inject digestive juices into their prey, and suck their insides out like a smoothie.

The Larval stage has four periods of moulting as it grows, before entering the Pupal stage.

The pupal stage begins after an hour of the last moult and can last for 1-2 weeks.

The newly formed adult leaves the pupa shell with wings extended, soft shelled and relatively blank. Over several hours, the shell will harden and the characteristic pattern will develop.

On average, Lady birds live for about a year, but some live for 2 months and others live for 2 years.

Cool tricks:

In folk medicine ladybird beetles have been prescribed as remedies for colic, measles, and toothaches.

The family name 'Coccinellidae' means 'Scarlett', but not all Lady bugs are red.

The Lady bug mimic spider is a type of Orb Weaver which looks suspiciously like a lady bug, possibly to avoid being eaten by animals who have experienced the fowl taste of Lady Bugs before.

Lady bugs will mate several times in their adult stage, with a female being able to lay up to 1000 eggs in her life.

Future prospects:

Lady bugs aren't in any immediate danger, however the diversity within the family is on a decline due to imported species out competing Native species. 

References:

https://www.nationalgeographic.com/animals/invertebrates/group/ladybugs/

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coccinellidae

https://entomology.ca.uky.edu/ef105

https://www.thoughtco.com/fascinating-facts-about-ladybugs-1968120

https://www.britannica.com/animal/ladybug

https://biocontrol.entomology.cornell.edu/predators/ladybeetles.php

https://www.koppert.com/aphidalia/

https://ecoag.org.au/art-and-science-working-in-tandem/

https://www.ento.csiro.au/biology/ladybirds/ladybirds.htm

https://coccinellid.com/substance/

https://www.environment.gov.au/science/abrs#:~:text=The%20ABRS%20is%20responsible%20for,making%20essential%20for%20biodiversity%20conservation.

https://manticore.press/2016/05/21/freyas-hens/

https://bugsforbugs.com.au/whats-your-pest/aphids/

https://www.natgeokids.com/au/discover/animals/insects/ladybird-facts/

https://www.worldanimalfoundation.com/advocate/wild-animals/params/post/1297319/

https://ladybugplanet.com/when-do-ladybugs-mate-ladybug-mating-and-reproduction-process/

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