How to find out how old a ladybug is?

Ladybug (lat. Coccinellidae) belongs to the family of beetles, a type of arthropod, a class of insects. When a person sees an insect, he involuntarily has a reaction - to slam it as quickly as possible, but the ladybug evokes sympathy in almost everyone, even women. Some remember a children's song associated with her, others remember that she really helps them out at their summer cottage - saving the garden from pests. What is the secret of everyone's sympathy for this beetle? In some cultures it is forbidden to kill a ladybug, and in the Western part it is generally considered a symbol of good luck. In many countries it is even included in the Red Book. Let's consider the characteristics and lifestyle of this insect, as well as the benefits and harms it can bring.

Which ladybugs are poisonous?

This is hemolymph (the so-called blood of beetles), it contains very toxic substances, in particular the mentioned cantharidin. The blood of ladybugs (Coccinellidae) is especially poisonous: when it comes into contact with human skin, it causes burns and abscess-like watery blisters.

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Nutrition and maintenance

In order to feed a ladybug, you need to know what it eats. Young individuals are very voracious. Ladybugs eat:

aphids are the main source of food;
psyllids;
scale insects;
scale insects;
ticks.

Therefore, they can most often be found under the leaves of trees and plants, as well as in crevices of buildings and wooden window blocks.

Transparent glass or plastic containers with a closed top are ideal for home improvement. The best option would be a bottle or food box with a lid. But we should not forget that every living organism requires oxygen for life and development, so small holes must be made in the lid to allow air to enter the container.

The cow's home should be of such a size that it can fly short distances. A twig or any object with an internal hole is perfect as a sleeping place so that the animal can hide there. For variety and beauty, you can add flower petals or grass to the “interior”. It is important to prevent the leaves from rotting and drying in the container , changing them every two days.

It is not recommended to store the glass “house” in places with direct exposure to sunlight, since strong heating of the vessel can lead to detrimental consequences for the insect.

Food for keeping ladybugs at home can be:

honey;
sugar;
lettuce;
raisin;
apples.

Water plays a special role in the nutritional diet of any organism. For convenience, you can place a metal bottle cap in your home and fill it with water. The water level in the drinking bowl should not exceed the height of the beetle's body so that it does not drown. It is enough to feed and water the insect 2-3 times a day, but it is important not to overfeed it. Meals should be taken in small portions.

Distribution area

These unique insects were able to spread across all climatic zones and are present on all continents. They cannot be found only in Antarctica and any other areas where permafrost prevails. They live in Europe and the CIS countries. Exotic species are found in Pakistan, India and South America. They live in the USA and Canada, as well as in Asian countries.

Some species like to live on plants where a colony of aphids lives. Others settle on reeds and sedges growing along rivers and other bodies of water. Finally, still others live on field plants.

Regardless of belonging to any species, these bugs prefer to lead an isolated lifestyle. They gather together only for wintering and migration, as well as during the mating season. Ladybugs are considered heat-loving insects, therefore most of the individuals that are found in temperate latitudes move to warm countries for the winter, flocking into huge flocks.

At the same time, some of them prefer to lead a sedentary lifestyle. They spend the winter huddled in huge groups of up to tens of millions of individuals. If you weigh such a mass, you can get several tons. This wintering method protects insects from unfavorable conditions.

Typically, ladybugs prefer to live under leaves, tree bark, and climb under stones. When talking about how long these beetles live, it is necessary to evaluate the conditions. If they have enough food, some individuals can live for a year or more. When there is not enough food, the lifespan can be reduced to several months.

Reproduction

Ladybugs reproduce several times a year. The female lays 200 to 1,500 yellow eggs near a cluster of aphids or other ladybird food to provide food for her larvae.

Ladybug larvae have an elongated body, often gray in color, and develop from several weeks to 3 months. Just like their parents, the larvae eat a lot and are quite active.

The ladybug is considered a beneficial insect for humans as it eats harmful insects that can harm crops. In many names of these insects in other languages of the world there is a definition of divinity: “God's cattle”, “Lady's sheep”, “Ladybugs”, etc.

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Features of the internal structure of insects

The insect's body contains the main vital organ systems: circulatory, respiratory, nervous, digestive, excretory and reproductive.

Internal structure of an insect

Circulatory system

The circulatory system of insects is not closed. The heart is a tube with valves inside that pumps blood in one direction (from the back of the body to the front).

The single cephalic blood vessel drains blood (hemolymph) into the body cavity. Through paired holes, due to muscle contraction, the heart is filled with blood again, after which the cycle repeats.

Respiratory system

The body of insects is penetrated by a network of small chitinous respiratory tubes - tracheas. This tube system is better developed than in arachnids. The trachea opens on the surface of the body with small holes called spiracles.

Respiratory system of an insect

At the moment the abdominal muscles expand, air enters through the spiracles into the trachea and spreads throughout the body, filling it with oxygen down to the smallest parts of the body (antennae and limbs). The process of “exhalation” occurs in the opposite direction due to contraction of the abdominal muscles.

Excretory system

The excretory organs of insects are the Malpighian vessels (named after the Italian scientist Malpighi). The vessels have the shape of thin narrow tubes, which at one end flow into the hindgut.

Harmful liquid substances penetrate from the blood into the walls of the Malpighian vessels, after which they enter the intestines. Together with undigested food debris, harmful substances are eliminated from the body.

In addition, the insect’s body contains a special fatty body that covers the outside of all internal organs. This formation accumulates harmful and at the same time useful substances. However, the harmful substances that make up the fat body remain in the insect’s body for life.

The cells of the fat body contain a supply of nutrients and water. This allows insects to go without feeding for a long time.

Digestive system

The digestive system of insects is not particularly different from other representatives of the arthropod type.

Depending on the type of mouthparts, insects gnaw (leaves, pollen), lick (nectar), suck (juice, blood), or filter food.

Mouthparts of insects

Insects that feed on solid food have gnawing mouthparts. Beetles, locusts, dragonflies, cockroaches, ants, etc. tear their food into small pieces and chew it.

The upper jaws (mandibles or mandibles) allow you to bite, and the lower jaws (maxillae) allow you to chew. In ants and termites, mandibles serve for defense and attack. In predatory representatives, the mandibles are equipped with sharp projections (dragonfly).

Some insects have a gnawing mouthpart only at the larval stage (butterfly caterpillars).

The gnawing-licking mouthparts are characteristic of stinging Hymenoptera (bees, wasps, bumblebees). With the help of the upper jaw they chew pollen, and with the help of a modified lower jaw they lick nectar.

The butterfly's long proboscis, wrapped in a spiral, is adapted for collecting nectar. This type of mouthparts is called sucking. Mosquitoes and bedbugs have piercing-sucking mouthparts. They pierce the skin of an animal or the vegetation of a plant and suck out blood or juice.

Female mosquitoes feed on blood. Blood is an excellent nutritional and building material necessary for the formation of eggs, from which future offspring will be formed.

Flies have a filtering-licking mouthparts. This type of oral apparatus allows the insect to feed on both liquid and solid food.

Food enters the oral cavity, then passes through the esophagus and enters the stomach. In the stomach of insects that feed on rough food (for example, the cockchafer), chitinous teeth are located. Such a stomach is called chewing. The teeth ensure grinding of hard plant tissues.

Undigested food remains are expelled through the anus.

Nervous system and sensory organs

The nervous system of insects is of the nodular type. The ventral nerve cord runs along the entire body. In the anterior part of the body, the suprapharyngeal and subpharyngeal nerve nodes, connected by a ring, are clearly visible. The suprapharyngeal node is called the head node. It innervates the sense organs located on the insect’s head (vision, touch).

In the thoracic part of the insect's body, the pectoral nodes are highly developed. There are three in number. Nerves branch off from each and go to three pairs of wings and limbs.

The structure of the nervous system of insects

The sense organs of insects are quite well developed.

The vision of insects is represented by complex (faceted) or simple eyes. Compounded or mosaic eyes form an image from many small ocelli.

Complex compound (mosaic) eyes of an insect

Complex compound eyes are characterized by color vision, allowing bees to detect shades of different colors. However, small details are perceived with difficulty by the complex eyes of insects.

The structure of the compound eye of an insect (Bugboy52.40, Yucatan, CC BY-SA 4.0)

The sensory organs of insects are capable of distinguishing very weak stimuli. Butterflies can distinguish ordinary water from a solution with a low glucose content (up to 0.003%). This indicates that insects have a taste organ.

The sense of smell allows males to find a female over a long distance (up to several kilometers).

Some individuals (crickets, grasshoppers) develop hearing organs on their legs.

The complex organization of insects' sensory organs indicates their complex behavior.

general characteristics

The size of the beetle ranges from 4 to 10 mm. The body is round, convex at the top. There is a head, pronotum, thorax, six legs, abdomen, wings and elytra. The head has large eyes and flexible antennae that allow the insect to feel everything.

The bug has a bright color, which serves as a kind of protection from enemies. Its color can be yellow, red, black, blue. There are spots of black, red, yellow, white. Sometimes they merge and form patterns. Some representatives have no spots at all.

How many dots a ladybug will have on its back depends on the type of insect, but does not in any way indicate the age of the bug. You can often tell the sex of a beetle by the pattern on the pronotum.

Interesting Facts

Since ancient times, many stories and legends have been associated with ladybugs.

In ancient times, the insect was considered a messenger of the Sun deity. They even tried to predict weather conditions using the red bug. If the beetle left the palm, it foreshadowed a sunny day. If it remained on the hand, it promised bad weather.

In some countries it is prohibited to destroy these insects to avoid exposing yourself to misfortune.

The drawing of a ladybug was considered a symbol of good luck. It was applied to clothing and jewelry. Such images played the role of talismans and protected their owner from failure.

There are many signs associated with the insect. For example, under no circumstances should you chase away a arriving ladybug, so as not to frighten away fortune. A cow that flies 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 are on the elytra of ladybugs, you can determine how many happy months are expected next year.

Every year the beetles fly to winter, and they choose the same places. Scientists still cannot unravel this phenomenon. After all, the life of insects is short, and new offspring of beetles fly to winter. How they manage to fly to the same places is unknown.

Insect larvae are cannibals and eat their own relatives who have not yet hatched.

Source: fb.ru

Interesting to know

Folklorists believe that the name of the beetle is directly related to the ancient Slavic pagan goddess of agriculture and fertility Mokosh. The flight of an insect from the finger was accompanied by the well-known request for bread (“fly to heaven, bring me bread”) as a symbol of productivity and prosperity. This explains her divinity.

In English-speaking regions it is called Lady bird or Lady beetle. The general word Lady, according to scientists, implies the image of the Virgin Mary, and Catholics consider the insect itself to be the insect of the Virgin Mary.