Ladybird

Definitions

Any of the Coccinellidae family of beetles, typically having a round shape and red or yellow spotted elytra.

Equivalents

Examples

“1914, Entomological Society of America, Annals of the Entomological Society of America, Volume 7, page 81, During this time, they eat⟳ about 825 Toxoptera per ladybird, making an average of about twenty-five per day to each ladybird.”

“1927, Hamilton Wright Mabie, Edward Everett Hale, and William Byron Forbush (editors), Childhood′s Favorites and Fairy Stories: The Young Folks Treasury, Volume 1, Gutenberg eBook #19993, Lady-bird, lady-bird, fly⟳ away home, / Thy house is on fire, thy children all gone: / All but one whose name⟳ is Ann, / And she crept under the pudding-pan.”

“1976 September 30, Denis Owen, Ladybird, ladybird, fly⟳ away home, New Scientist, page 686, Ladybirds, unlike most beetles, enjoy⟳ considerable popularity: they are attractive to look⟳ at and are well-known as useful predators of aphids—the greenfly and blackfly that destroy⟳ garden plants and crops.”

“2008, John L. Capinera, Encyclopedia of Entomology, Springer-Verlag New York, 2nd Edition, page 2130, Perhaps it was a sense⟳ of lack of effectiveness of native ladybirds in rapid and complete⟳ control⟳ of aphid infestations that led to attempts to import additional aphid-feeding ladybird species into North America.”

“A huge group of ladybirds has caused weather experts in San Diego, USA, to be very confused.”

CEFR level