Tuesday, March 25, 2008

Ladybugs!!



Over the weekend I noticed a cute little ladybug in our bathroom. He was a little dusty which made me wonder where in heck it came from it being the middle of winter in Maine. He (or she) looked to be enjoying himself in the sunshine coming through the window and since that is probably the only bug I don't mind I left it alone....... kind of.... ;) I wanted to get a neat picture of him so I poked at him a few times to try and get him to move but he wouldn't budge. I noticed some greenish/yellow stuff around him and I wondered if I had poked him a little too hard and killed him. I was telling Dale about it and he guessed I had literally scared the shit out of him. :P

Feeling bad that I may have squished the poor little thing (I didn't poke him that hard, honest!), I went to check on him later that afternoon. He was perfectly fine and sitting beside him was another ladybug! So today I checked on Mr. & Mrs. Bug and they've apparently been very busy cause have since had two ladybug children! lol

I'm so curious as to where they are coming from, especially since it's still pretty chilly out so I Googled facts about ladybugs. Wow, the things you didn't know about these little creatures! Here are some cool facts:

-A ladybug beats its wings 85 times a second when it flies.

-If you squeeze a ladybug it will bite you, but the bite won't hurt.

-Ladybugs hibernate in cold weather.

-Ladybugs won't fly if the temperature is below 55 degrees Fahrenheit.

-When the temperature is about 59 degrees Fahrenheit, lady bugs become active.

-Ladybugs chew from side to side and not up and down like people do.

-A lady bug lets out a yellowish liquid when it is mad. The liquid has a bad smell to its predators. (whoopsie, sorry!)

- A lady bugs top flying speed is about fifteen miles per hour.

-The eggs of a lady bugs are not visible to the naked eye.

-Ladybugs grow to adulthood in about 3-4 weeks.

-All ladybugs are born black.


How neat is that!? I also learned that they like humid places and that our homes are normally very dry in the winter and often times they die of dehydration. I set out a little bowl of water for them on the window sill. :P

5 comments:

Karen Coutu said...

That was all very interesting. Even though bugs (no matter how cute) are not for me, I hope you enjoy your new pets.

Kitty said...

That was really interesting.Not that i'm into bugs but I do love ladybugs.I start getting millions around here when it gets a little warmer.How cute little ladybug kids!

J said...

That was really interesting! Who knew ladybugs were so cool?

Melanie said...

lol at you setting out water for them...hippy! ;)

Melissa said...

Awwwww how cute. I used to love seein g those things around but now I kinda find myself to be scared of them, I'm weird I know. :P Luckily I don't see many of those around here although I would rather see those than some of these weird deadly bugs they have here. :( And thanks for listing all those facts, that was an interesting read!