- By Barry Mitschke
January 23, 2023
Beetles. I do not know about your yard and home, but there were quite a few Maple Beetles this fall outside; some were still crawling inside the house the other day. When I heard a whirring noise, I thought it was a Maple Beetle, but no, it was a 7-spot Ladybird (Ladybug) Beetle, still crawling and flying around in the living room. (See the fuzzy close-up photo; the bug is usually about ½ the size of your little fingernail.) I put the bug onto our fern plant, but later it was on the window again. Usually in the fall, ladybugs crawl under leaves and other debris to hibernate for winter. (That is why you should delay your spring yard clean-up so beneficial insects like ladybugs have time to move out and not get destroyed!)
Ladybird Beetles are also called Ladybugs or Lady Beetles. To an English farmer, a ladybug signals a good harvest. In a French vineyard, a ladybug is a sign of good weather. A ladybug walking on the hand of a Swedish girl is said to be measuring for wedding gloves. In Canada, ladybugs wintering inside mean good luck. May we have a lucky 2023!
Many years ago, the Canadian Nature Federation published a pamphlet illustrating 18 types of Ladybird Beetles found in Canada; they encouraged people to enter a survey contest. These beetles have a shade of orange (like orange-red, blood-red, or purple-red) or are yellow and black. About the size of a split pea, Spotted Ladybirds are the most common in Nature. See the photo of the leaves. The number of spots can vary from 2, 5, 7 (alien), 9, 10 (elongated), 12 (convergent), 13 to 14. Other patterns include hieroglyphic, parenthetic, polished, southern (alien), 3-backed, transverse, and twice-stabbed. As indicated, two of these species are alien --- not native to Canada.
Beetles undergo a complete-4-phased metamorphosis: egg, larvae (grow rapidly and eat other eggs, small insects, even spiders), pupae, and adult. Adults have four wings with hard covers called “elypta” that lift away when the bug flies. They have chewing mouthparts. (FBNH.) Being able to release a beetlejuice (a stinky-foul-tasting fluid from their joints), the bug gets protection from birds and spiders.
Ladybugs eat aphids (by the 100s daily), scale insects, lice, thrips, and fruit flies, etc. --- many of which can damage crops of all kinds. As a method of biological control, several hundred types of ladybugs have been brought to North America to fight pests. Although effective, these alien species soon learn to compete with native species, and so damage ecosystems by altering their biodiversity.
Besides being colourful and fascinating, Ladybird Beetles deserve our conservation. Just let them be to do their thing in Nature!
