There is one insect that everyone admires for its looks and how it helps humans. That insect is the ladybug. The eastern ladybug is most common in the eastern part of the United States such as in Canton. Did you know ladybugs have three classifications? One of them is a vertebrae, a vertebrae is an animal that has a backbone. Another classification is an insect that belongs to the beetle family. Sometimes you can spot a ladybug by its black spots. Ladybugs have hidden wings in there back that come out anytime they want.

The eastern ladybug lives in many places in the eastern United States. Ladybugs hibernate in the winter and wake up in the springtime. Some items that make up its habitat is leaves for eating, trees for the larva and aphids to eat. Special features that allow it to adapt into its environment is its strong jaws that help the ladybug to eat aphids, an aphid is a small insect that the ladybug loves to eat. Another feature is its wings that help it fly, it looks like it has no wings but they come out of its back.

Sometimes the behavior of a ladybug could be surprising. Did you know that some ladybugs are carnivores and their favorite food is aphids? Most ladybugs are carnivores but some are herbivores just like humans, some eat meat and some don’t. The ladybug has a very unusual way to protect its self. Ladybugs have warning colors that tell its enemy to stay away; the colors are red, yellow and gold. When predators finally eat the ladybug they find out that it does not taste good. Some people love ladybugs for appearance and contributions to humans. Other people don’t like ladybugs because they think it is useless. But ladybugs help humans by eating aphids that eat flowers and plants such as roses.

Did you know that some adult ladybugs only live 3-4 weeks even if it is not killed or eaten by a predator? Ladybugs like to be close to food so ladybugs plant their egg near aphids or close to them. When the yellow eggs turn white the ladybugs are ready for hatching. When the egg hatches a creature with long legs and hairy bodies pop out. These creatures are called larva. Ladybug larva looks nothing like an adult ladybug. After the larva is hatched their color changes from white to black. But even if the larva does not look like the adult ladybug it still likes to eat aphids. After that the larva molts and then its on its final stages. Then the larva turns into a pupa and that stage lasts about 5 days. During this stage the pupa stays very still. As the pupa develops the wings and other parts can be seen under its shell. After that the development is completed.

I learned a lot more about ladybugs, did you know ladybugs hibernate and did you know that the dog tooth violet comes out in the spring and the ladybugs gets up from its hibernation on the same day. What I thought was interesting that ladybugs have exoskeletons and that they shed their shell 4 times. How fast do you think a ladybug moves? Well, it moves 15 mph. I wonder how the ladybug escapes if its predator wants to eat it. I think the ladybug is a very helpful creature, by eating aphids and it tastes bad but looks beautiful. Just remember that ladybugs are not dangerous except to aphids.