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Ladybugs are small, round red insects with black spots. They can be of other colors, such as orange, yellow and black, but the most familiar species is the red seven-point ladybug. Ladybugs are sometimes called ladybug beetles or ladybirds; they got their name from farmers who prayed to the Virgin Mary for the protection of their crops. When aphids and other pests invaded their crops, ladybugs came, ate the bugs and saved the crops. Ladybugs are still a farmer’s best friend and play an important role in the fight against aphids and other insects. So we know they eat aphids, but what else do ladybugs eat?
How do ladybugs hunt?
In an alfalfa field, a colony of 1,000 ladybirds devours the tiny aphids that grow on the leaves. Aphids are wingless, slow-moving insects, so complex hunting is not required. No hiding places waiting for an unsuspecting victim to drive by. Basically, a ladybug flies in, finds a place full of aphids, and serves dinner. The aphids will use gravity to fall off the leaves to escape, but since ladybugs can fly, they can still find them.
What do ladybugs eat?
Ladybugs primarily feed on aphids, a type of small wingless beetle. It depends on the species, habitat and location. But with 5,000 species of ladybugs, there are some variations. There are some species that feed on pollen and nectar, others feed on plant parts such as stems. Some species, if unable to find aphids or lack thereof, may feed on fungus and mold. Another group will feed on ticks. Most ladybugs will eat insect eggs if they bump into them too.
A complete list of what ladybugs eat:
- Aphids
- Plant-eating bugs
- Mites
- pollen
- Nectar
- Mealybugs
- Insect eggs
- Mold
- Mushrooms
- Fruit midges
- Plants (some species)
How much do ladybugs eat?
Adult ladybugs eat all day, they are less active at night and can eat up to 5,000 aphids in their lifetime! The lifespan of a ladybug is 1-2 years.
What do baby ladybugs (larvae) eat?
Mother ladybugs lay eggs next to aphids, so when the larvae hatch, they essentially hatch in a full service restaurant. The aphids are right there, and the larvae can start feeding right away, and they will someday. They consume large amounts of aphids over the next few weeks, before moving into pupal stage and then into adult stage. Ladybug larvae can eat 300-400 aphids in 2-3 weeks!
What does ladybugs eat?
Their vibrant colors and blotches remind predators that, like jelly marmalade, they taste terrible, so don’t eat them! They have glands in their joints that give off a foul smell, but some animals still hunt ladybirds. What does ladybugs eat? The most common predator is birds, which can attack and eat them, but depending on their habitat, they can be eaten by frogs, dragonflies and spiders.
What do ladybugs eat in space … wait, what?
NASA has conducted an experiment with ladybirds and aphids in space! In 1999, a group of astronauts brought four ladybirds with them on a space shuttle to see how gravity would affect the aphids’ ability to escape the ladybirds. On Earth, aphids simply fall off their leaves, using gravity to escape hungry ladybugs. What would happen in space in zero gravity? Teachers and students were encouraged to carry out similar experiments in their classrooms and to compare the results. Did the aphid adapt? Not in this experiment. The ladybugs survived and ate the aphids. But aphids left behind the legacy of the first cosmonauts from aphids!
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