Each of us has known a ladybug since childhood. It is a red bug with black markings on its back. By points taken insect. However, this opinion is deeply erroneous, and the number of specks has nothing to do with the age of the beetle. How many dots does a ladybug have and what exactly does their number mean? The article will be devoted to the answer to this question.
Where did the name of the insect come from?
Before figuring out how many points a ladybug has, it is interesting to know why the insect was named that way.
How many points does a ladybug have and what does it depend on, we will try to figure it out.
general characteristics
The size of the beetle is from 4 to 10 mm. The body is round, convex from above. There is a head, pronotum, thorax, six legs, abdomen, wings and elytra. On the head are big eyes and flexible antennae that allow the insect to feel everything.
The bug has a bright color that serves as a kind of protection from enemies. Its color can be yellow, red, black, blue. There are spots of black, red, yellow, white color. Sometimes they merge and form patterns. Some representatives have no spots at all.
How many points a ladybug will have on its back depends on the type of insect, but does not say anything about the age of the bug. Often, the sex of the beetle can be identified by the pattern on the pronotum.
Known Species
The beetle family includes more than 4000 species, united in 7 subfamilies and 360 genera. The most famous varieties:
- point to point. This is a red beetle with two black dots 5 mm long. The color of the pronotum is black, with a yellow border on the sides.
- Seven-point variety. The name makes it clear how many black dots a ladybug of this type has. The most common beetle. It has a red color, black dots, a length of 7-8 mm.
- Ladybug with 12 dots. Beetle 6 mm long, pinkish or red, with 6 dots on each of the elytra.
- Beetle with 13 dots has a length of 4-7 mm, red-brown in color, the spots merge.
- Insect with 14 dots. The beetle is yellow or black with black or yellow dots.
- Seventeen-point variety. The length of the beetle is 2-4 mm, the color is yellow or dark yellow. Found in Europe.
So, now it becomes clearer how many points are on the elytra of ladybugs and how this is explained. It depends on the type of insect.
I wonder how many black dots on the elytra of ladybugs are more common? The most common in nature are red bugs with seven spots. However, the variety of species of these insects is so extensive that ladybugs are known from the minimum amount spots are two-point. Well, the maximum number of points on the elytra of insects is 24.
Since ancient times, many stories and legends have been associated with ladybugs.
In ancient times, the insect was considered a messenger of the deity of the Sun. With the help of a red bug, they even tried to predict weather conditions. If the beetle left the palm, it foreshadowed a sunny day. If he remained on his hand, it promised bad weather.
In some countries it is forbidden to destroy these insects so as not to expose yourself to adversity.
The drawing of a ladybug was considered a symbol of good luck. It was applied to clothes and jewelry. Such images played the role of talismans and protected their owner from failure.
Many signs are associated with insects. For example, in no case should you drive away a ladybug that has arrived, so as not to frighten off fortune. A cow that has flown into the house brings harmony and happiness to the family with its appearance. For childless families, the appearance of a bug promises the imminent birth of a baby. If you count how many black dots on the elytra of ladybugs, you can determine how many happy months are expected next year.
Every year, the bugs fly for the winter, and they choose the same places. Scientists have not yet been able to unravel this phenomenon. After all, the life of insects is short, and new offspring of bugs fly for wintering. How they manage to fly to the same regions is unknown.
They are cannibals and eat their own relatives who have not yet hatched.
The most common species of beetle with red elytra and black dotted pattern is affectionately called "ladybug". It is difficult to find a person who has not heard about these, but how many people know about them?
In terms of beauty, a ladybug can be compared with butterflies, and the most interesting thing is that they are born almost the same!
The birth of this insect takes not so little time: one or two. This is the life cycle. God's has four stages. This:
- egg stage
- larval stage
- pupal stage
- the stage of growing up - the final one.
egg stage
The first stage is the egg stage. God's, laying eggs, tries to protect her offspring. To do this, the female hides the eggs of future beetles on reverse side leaves. So they are not visible to insects and other predators. Interesting feature lies in the fact that the mother for her children is looking for a place where there are a lot of aphids, so that when they are born, they have food for the first time.
Larval stage
And now one or two weeks pass, and from the eggs of the larvae, well, the second stage has come. Ladybug larvae are quite mobile, have an enviable appetite, eating aphid eggs and their newly hatched larvae from the first minutes of life. This stage lasts about a month, during which time the larva reaches a centimeter in length.
Third pupal stage
Ladybug is fixed on a leaf of a plant. She turns into an immobile chrysalis, which hardens and acquires Brown color. She has a rather strong shell, in a week and a half it will burst and a bug will appear.
maturation stage
The fourth stage comes with the birth of a small beetle, which we affectionately call "the sun." Finally, we see the ladybug familiar to us, which can now fly. And after waiting a little while her wings get stronger, she will hide from your eyes in search of food.
Few people know how important these beetles are for vegetable gardens. The ladybug is a true protector of plants, it eats pests such as aphids and spider mites.
In autumn, ladybugs will hide in secluded places to spend the winter. For example, under the bark, in fallen leaves, in warm moss. In the spring, when everything blooms, they will reappear and delight with their bright outfit.
However, not everyone survives the winter, so it is generally accepted that the average ladybug is from 10 to 12 months, although in reality the life cycle can last up to one and a half years.
For a large feast, appetizers are simply necessary. You can cook them from anything. Even the most ordinary sandwich can turn into a light snack and diversify the table. The ingredients will need the most common - those that are always at hand. By decorating such a sandwich in some special way, you will turn it into a real table decoration.
You will need
- - french loaf
- - red slightly salted fish (salmon, trout or pink salmon)
- - butter
- - Cherry tomatoes"
- - black olives, pitted
- - parsley for decoration
Instruction
We cut a loaf 1 cm thick. Spread each slice with butter, and put a slice of red fish on top.
The ladybug, along with butterflies and dragonflies, is considered one of the most beautiful and beloved insects. Since childhood, people have been taught to respect ladybugs, and few dare to crush her. They are associated with many positive signs and beliefs that have been preserved since ancient times.
Instruction
It is hardly possible to find a Russian-speaking person who is not familiar with the quatrain:
"Ladybug, fly to the sky,
Bring me
black and white
Just not hot."
To this day, many superstitions and signs associated with these charming insects have survived. In many nations, the ladybug was considered a sacred insect, for example, it was considered a servant of the Virgin Mary, hence the name - ladybug. Similar beliefs existed among the ancients, the Slavs worshiped ladybugs.
In pagan times, the bright scarlet color of the shell of cows was associated with fire in people, so these arthropods were considered a kind of messengers of the sun god Yarila. It was believed that they bring a rich harvest and new life.
Later, in Rus', a tradition arose to ask a ladybug sitting on a hand or on clothes about the upcoming weather. If the bug flies away, the day will be clear, if it remains, it's bad weather. There were other signs as well. So, unmarried girls guessed. Catching a ladybug, they asked where they would meet the future groom, and how soon they would get married, after which they blew them from the palm of their hand. Young children believed that the number of black dots on the back of a ladybug indicated its age. Adults used the number of dots to determine how many happy months there would be next year.
"Don't kill a ladybug - it will turn into trouble" - says an old saying. Some people tried not to drive away the arriving cows, but only gently push with a blade of grass or carefully blow it off. This kind of belief had a reasonable: cows destroy aphids, so this insect provides a huge service. agriculture. In fact, aphids are a real disaster for peasants. Therefore, it was believed that if a large cluster of ladybugs in one place - wait big harvest rye.
From childhood to old age, God's ladybug remains for everyone a sweet creature and gives rise to only pleasant associations. There are many explanations for this both in the scientific world and in the world of myths and legends, to which, in fact, this spotted insect owes its name.
Perhaps not a single insect was as useful for a person as God's well-known ladybug. Red, yellow, green, black - there are over 4 thousand species of ladybugs. It is not surprising that since ancient times, man has been trying to use this bug to help himself. God's ladybug insects disappear. In the Middle Ages, healers prepared special alcohol-based extracts from ladybugs and a plaster against abscesses and boils! ladybug and in modern times. These bugs are considered one of the best fighters against the worst agricultural pest - aphids. In addition, God ladybug is an active destroyer of plant and spider mites. Such useful qualities, probably also affected the name that people bestowed on this pretty creature. The Slavic names of the ladybug are associated with the characters of the mythological plot "the wedding of the Sun". That is why the “bride”, dressed in red, cannot, cannot be left - everyone will burn (“God’s ladybug, fly to the sky"). The central character of the marriage ceremony of the sun corresponds to the names of the ladybug in other languages: a lady's girl in Bulgarian, in Macedonian, a wife or an orphan in Polish. With the spread of Christianity, ancient beliefs were also transformed. The name of the spotted bug began to be associated with the Virgin Mary. In English-speaking countries, a ladybug is called ladybird, ladybug or lady beetle. The word “lady” that combines these names just implies the Virgin Mary. The most common variant of the modern name of the ladybug refers to cattle belonging to a god or some divine personage: dievo karvyte in Lithuanian, vaca domnului in Romanian, bozhja sheep in Serbo-Croatian, bete a bon Dieu ("God's animal") in French. The cow in this case is the implementation general model correlation of insects with livestock.
Related videos
Sources:
- Ladybug World
Ladybug is the object of children's fairy tales, songs and counting rhymes, it is a symbol of good luck in the understanding of many people. This useful creatures, which feed on plant pests and usually live on outdoors. And although most ladybugs are harmless to environment, one species, which goes by the name Harmonia axyridis, or Asian ladybug, has recently been found to be an exception.
The difference between good and bad ladybugs
At first glance, it may be difficult to distinguish between different types ladybugs, and the Asian ladybug has all the signs almost the same as the rest - even their colors can change from orange to bright red, that is, such a ladybug looks almost indistinguishable. But a closer look will allow you to spot differences, such as a white mark behind the head. Some of the individuals of this species have dark spots on the wings, others are lighter, and there are even those that have no spots at all. This species of ladybug was purposefully introduced to the United States of America from Asia in the last century as a way to exterminate agricultural pests such as aphids and scale insects. These ladybugs were released in several states but have since migrated extensively so that they can now be found throughout the US. However, in addition to purposeful importation, they entered the United States by accident on board ships, which, most likely, was the reason for such a wide and successful migration.
Harmful ladybugs
However, since these ladybugs were released in the United States, scientists have discovered quite a few a large number of various not very pleasant aspects. For example, for the winter they can climb into the smallest cracks in wooden and even concrete houses to wait out the cold. And when the temperature drops very much, they can even climb inside the house, as they are attracted to heat. And once inside, they will constantly crawl along the ceiling, walls and floor. And although even the presence of these bugs in the house is unpleasant in itself, if they are disturbed, they can emit bad smell, as well as spewing a yellowish liquid that can stain your surfaces. Some people may experience allergic reactions to these bugs, especially if there are a lot of them. Among the most common reactions are eye problems, hay fever, cough, asthma and hives. The process can be started both by contact with beetles, and simply by being in the same room with them. Asian ladybugs can be aggressive and even bite if they get on the skin. This can be either self-defense or a natural tendency to bite in search of food. And although these insects do help to get rid of pests in the garden or vegetable garden, they can be a real problem in the vineyard, as they are often harvested along with grapes, which ultimately results in an unpleasant smell and taste of wine due to the protective reactions of this ladybug.
Protection
The best way to protect against ladybugs is basic precautions, which include sealing all openings in walls, around windows and so on, doors and ventilation holes. Make sure all your windows and doors are tightly closed.
Ladybugs in the house
If ladybugs have already climbed into your home, you can catch them with a vacuum cleaner or special adhesive tape. To avoid odor and stains, you should not try to swat or crush these insects. There are also special pesticides that will allow you to get rid of these ladybugs if other methods fail and their number is only growing.
Every year in a particular region of the world there is an invasion of cute bugs - ladybugs. In pagan culture, they were considered messengers of the Sun goddess, who gives light, harvest and new life. To see a lot of ladybugs meant to get a rich crop of grain. Any meeting with a ladybug promises success in business. This year, Finns and Estonians have been so lucky. According to local entomologists, the insects arrived in Finland and Estonia from Russia in search of food. About six years ago there was a similar invasion on the Riga seaside.
1. In Russia, she is called "God's Maryushka" or the sun, in Western Europe - God's sheep, solar calf, solar bug. In Latvia, the bug bears the name of Marita in honor of the ancient Latvian goddess Mary, the patroness of mother earth and earthly strength, in Israel - the cow of St. Moses, in France - the “hen of God”. In America, they believe that if you even inadvertently kill a ladybug, expect trouble.
2. There is an assumption that ladybugs used to be called "lady's blood", as they look like droplets of blood.
3. Ladybugs are only beetles that have a red or yellow shell, decorated with seven or five dots. Ladybugs come in a variety of colors: pink, yellow, white, orange, and even black. The cows also include those who have commas, a dash, the letter “M” or even an ornament on their backs. They can have specks from 2 to 28, and they are designed to scare away predators. True, such species - once or twice and miscalculated. In total, there are more than 4,000 species of these bugs in nature.
4. Several hundred species of ladybugs live in Latvia, the most common of which is the seven-spotted ladybug, which is the emblem of the Latvian Society of Entomologists, and ten years ago it was recognized as the national symbol of Latvia.
5. Ladybugs are a great natural pesticide, most of them feed on mites and aphids, and only a few of them eat plants exclusively. A pair of ladybugs can destroy up to 4,000 spider mites in their lifetime. Ladybug larvae are very voracious. During their development to the size of an adult, they eat up to 1,000 aphids.
The 6.28-spot ladybug is a vegetarian and a pest: it eats potatoes, clover, and beets.
7. One of the species of ladybug - rhodolia - is famous for saving citrus plantations in California, Florida, Algeria, France, Japan, New Zealand, on the Black Sea coast of the Caucasus, when they were attacked terrible pest, brought from Australia - a grooved worm that was not even afraid of hydrocyanic acid. People brought rhodolia from Australia, which from time immemorial fought with the grooved mealybug. This black-patterned red ladybug attacks females, especially egg sacs, making short work of them.
8. Ladybug lives up to two years.
9. With the help of radar, scientists were able to track the flight of ladybugs. It turned out that most of them fly at an altitude of 150 to 500 meters, but some rise to a height of 1,100 meters. average speed their flight is 30 kilometers per hour, individual ladybugs accelerate to 60 kilometers per hour. One flight of ladybugs lasts from half an hour to two. Therefore, the most successful individuals can move 120 kilometers at a time. That is, there are no barriers to the resettlement of ladybugs.
10. During breeding, the mating process in bugs can last up to 10 hours, moreover, not once a day, every day in a row. The purpose of such a long act of love is to keep other bugs away from the female. The amount of sperm is enough to fertilize 500 eggs. The female lays about 20 eggs at a time, for the whole season - more than 1,000 eggs.
11. Ladybugs are inherent in ailments that are sexually transmitted from males to females. Coccipolipus is a tick that overtakes the latter, after which they cannot produce offspring.
12. To scare away its enemies - spiders, frogs and birds, ladybugs secrete cantharidin from the joints of the legs - a poisonous, sharp-smelling yellow liquid.
13. Our ancestors stuffed a living insect into a sore tooth or rubbed their gums with a crushed bug. Thrifty healers kept ladybugs in winter in a perforated box with grass and earth, and homeopaths made an extract from 80 bugs in one ounce of alcohol.
14. In the old days, ladybugs were saved from measles. A blister plaster was made from scarlet insects. Professor Pavel Marikovsky, in his book Secrets of the Insect World, wrote that the beetle patch had an effect forty years after it was made.
15. There are many secrets in the life of ladybugs. Scientists have not figured out why they are going to "gatherings." Biologist and hunter Oleg Gusev, who met the bugs on the shores of Lake Baikal, calculated that 600,000 ladybugs of 10 species were sitting on each kilometer. Insects especially densely stuck around the stones near the water itself.
16. In Japan, where aphids cause considerable damage to fields and gardens, ladybugs are grown in the laboratory and then released into the wild. Insects in the laboratory are groomed and cherished. And they are not even fed with aphids, but with high-calorie bee larvae. Cows do not remain in debt - they began to give two thousand offspring per year (usually they lay 200-400 eggs).
17. In the 50s, a company that harvested ladybugs for future use began to flourish in the United States. Sleeping insects wintering somewhere in the mountains were put into canvas bags with a capacity of nine kilograms (about 80,000 individuals) and stored at 4-6 degrees Celsius. In the summer, farmers who did not want to resort to pesticides bought cows for $6-8 a kilogram to control pests. Only gardeners in Washington state in 1946 purchased five tons of bugs.
18. In recent years, harlequin ladybugs from East Asia have been massively advancing on Europe, eating local species of ladybugs. At the same time, it turned out that Asians secrete a caustic liquid, under the influence of which 12 types of pathogens die, including the causative agent of tuberculosis - Koch's bacillus, strains of Staphylococcus aureus resistant to antibiotics.
19. In honor of the ladybug, monuments were erected in the USA - in New York and the suburbs of Milwaukee, in Japan - in Tokyo, in South Korea- in Seoul, in the capital of Poland - Warsaw, in the French town of Millau and in Russia - in Volgograd.
With the advent of spring and summer, a lot of things appear in nature. different insects. Children love to watch beautiful beetles. Taking a walk in nature with children, you can definitely meet beautiful bugs with black dots. Among the huge variety of large and small beetles that busily scurry through gardens, fields and vegetable gardens, ladybugs are popular among people. Let's consider these bugs and tell children about the ladybug.
Why are bugs called bugs, why are cows, if they are bugs, why do they have such a color, what benefits do they bring and how do they develop.
A story for children about a ladybug
These little bugs have a very attractive bright appearance. Their coloring is remembered at first sight. These insects have long earned the interest of man.
In many countries, various legends and superstitions are associated with them, people invented proverbs and fairy tales about them.
We call them "ladybug". In some countries of Eastern Europe, these bugs are affectionately called "sunshine", and in Western Europe - "Virgin Mary's bug".
Where do bugs live? Everywhere except Antarctica. They are also found here, in the countries of Northern, Western and Eastern Europe, Intdia, Great Britain, Italy and France.
Why are beetles called divine? God's means meek, safe. Why a cow if she's a beetle? When she sits calmly in the palm of a person, she is safe. And if you press it a little, the insect secretes a yellow "milk", a liquid. That's why they called her a ladybug.
In general, beetles are predators. Ladybugs or coccenelids (as the family of beetles is called in Latin), like their larvae, feed mainly on aphids. For this they are also called smoldering cows. In addition to aphids, ladybugs and their larvae destroy scale insects, spider mites, small caterpillars, egg-laying insects, i.e. the most dangerous pests Agriculture.
The bugs are very active, they quickly run through plants and can fly long distances.
The bugs have a very enviable appetite. Each day needs fifty aphids.
Ladybug larvae also do not complain about the lack of appetite: about a thousand aphids are required for their development. The larvae grow very fast. Several generations can develop in a year.
The appearance of a ladybug
Naskomye look very bright. Their round back is painted red, orange or yellow and covered in dots. Points can be a different number. There are individuals with two points, with 12, 30. The most common is the seven-spot cow.
By the way, the 28-point person is a vegetarian and a pest: he eats potatoes, beets and clover.
Bright signs make ladybugs easily recognizable even by small children.
Entomologists consider ladybugs those with commas, dashes on their backs, others have a fancy ornament. There are bugs even in a black outfit, and not just in a red or yellow suit. And they also have dots. There are over 4,000 different types of ladybugs.
Ladybugs have a head, pronotum, chest, abdomen, 3 pairs of legs, rigid elytra and transparent wings, with which the insect flies. Large eyes and mobile antennae.
The bug flies with the help of two hind wings, and hard elytra serve as protection.
Video - slow motion as a ladybug takes off
During the flight, the insect makes up to 85 strokes per second. And it will be interesting for children to see that transparent wings are hidden under the hard elytra, with the help of which the insect flies.
Why does the insect need such a bright outfit? To defend against enemies! It's warning coloring: "I'm not edible!" she says.
If you pick up a bug and inadvertently press it, it will release an orange drop. It contains the poison cantharidin. it is not dangerous for people, but if a bird grabs a ladybug, it will burn its throat so that it no longer wants to touch it. So the bug feels safe.
How a ladybug develops
In the spring, insects begin to have trouble with breeding offspring. They are looking for a mate. On the leaves of plants, the female lays up to 400 yellow eggs.
The female, taking care of her offspring, chooses plants that grow near the habitats of aphids. After 1-2 weeks, larvae emerge from the eggs. At first, they feed on the shell of the egg, as well as unfertilized eggs. Then they get to the aphids. The larval stage lasts 4-7 weeks. When the larvae accumulate nutrients, they turn into pupae. The pupa is attached to the leaf. After 7-10 days, an adult insect crawls out of the pupa shell. He has no spots yet. The bug sits and waits. Then the corresponding coloring and spots appear.
Adult beetles usually hibernate. They are warm-hearted. If the climate is cold, ladybugs gather in flocks and fly away to warmer climes. If they remain, they gather in colonies and hide under stones, tree bark, and so they wait out the winter cold.
The benefits and harms of ladybugs
The voracity of ladybugs is of great benefit to gardens and orchards in many countries. If one larva eats 50 aphids per day, then an adult insect eats up to 100 individuals.
Beetles are specially bred and then sprayed over the gardens with the help of aviation.
But there are also harmful individuals that eat vegetables.
- Since ancient times, ladybugs have even been worshiped. The Slavs considered her the messenger of the goddess of the Sun.
- It was used to predict the weather. If the bug flies away from the palm on which it was sitting, then the weather will be good. And if he does not want to fly, there will be bad weather.
- Since ancient times, in Western countries, people have considered a ladybug a symbol of good luck. The image of a bug on clothes was like a talisman.
- There are many signs associated with this bug. If a ladybug flies to you, do not rush to drive it away so as not to frighten off fortune. Having flown into the house, she promises peace and harmony, and for childless families, the appearance of a child.
Toddler cartoon
Coloring pages for children
And Yulia drew this ladybug for the competition for Nina Kuzmenko's blog.
This is how interesting you can have a conversation with children and talk about a familiar bug called a ladybug.
Children love these insects, read poems about them, make various crafts.
Soon I will make a selection of poems and riddles about a ladybug for children.
Come visit, write your comments, it is very important for me to know your opinion. Share information with friends by clicking on the social buttons. networks.
Best regards, Olga.
