7 SPOT LADYBIRD
Size
Habitat
Life span
Appearance
Facts
6-8 mm long
Widely distributed in many habitats and found in low lying vegetation
1 year
The 7 spot ladybird has red or orange wing cases with 3 black spots on each and one in the middle.
​It has a black thorax with two white/yellow spots on either side and a black head.
Adult ladybirds mate in late spring after emerging from hibernation and lay a few hundred yellow/orange eggs under leaves such as nettle.
These eggs hatch after a few days into the larvae which hunt aphids and other insects they are able to catch. Then after around a month the larvae pupate; they bend themselves into a dome shape and their skin hardens around them.
It can take a few days to two weeks for them to hatch as an adult which occurs usually in september/october. When they emerge they are a plain yellow colour but darken and develop their spots gradually.
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Lady birds are named in honour of the virgin mary
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They are the largest and most common UK species
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They can eat 5,000 aphids during their life
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Their red colour is a warning to predators that they are toxic
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​When they feel threatened they release a smelly toxic yellow coloured chemical called reflex blood
They spend a few weeks hunting aphids, other insects including each other, fruit, pollen and nectar to build up their fat reserves for hibernation over winter. They hibernate in crevices, dense vegetation, dry leaves, pine cones or anywhere dry and warm such as our houses and sometimes hudle together in large clusters.