Same Difference

Nothing sick now guys........this is a serious question from my niece and nephew.

How can you tell a ladybirds age.........they think its the amount of spots on it and that is how old it is!

Me?

I dont believe it.........so come on all you insect lovers, can you answer their question?

leighbloke

I doubt a ladybird lives for more than a year, two years at most, I thought all ladybirds had the same number of spots give or take one or two?

If the ladybirds boobs are still pert they are young, droopy saggy ones mean they are about 42 adult years old.

Mitzyboy

More to the point how do you sex a ladybird?

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I said .........no smut!!

Dont hijack!

mikelincs

the different number of spots just means a different species. There is no way to tell the age

rugbymatt

Mike is right.

ironporer

from:

http://www.umass.edu/ent/BugNetMAP/mis_7.htm


Misconceptions/Misinformation #7: Age is determined in ladybugs by the number of spots on their wings.

Examples containing misinformation:

Explanation:

It is a common folktale that one can tell the age of the ladybug by the number of spots on its wings. This is just a folktale and there is no truth to the tale. Let's think about this a monment. I cant't think of any ladybug that lives more than one year. Ladybugs only live one year and die. The least number of spots on a ladybug's two wings is two (i.e., one spot per wing) while some species lack spots. Does this mean they live two years in the first case and have not reached the one year mark in the latter? This would mean the beetle woud have to have only one spot on one wing only. If you remember misconception #2, it was noted that once an insect has wings it is fully mature and doesn't molt anymore. Thus, any age changes cannot be recorded in the wing pattern or markings.

poshnbucks

Certain breeds of ladybirds bear clear gender distinctions (e.g. with a Siberian, the individuals with black head are male and the ones with a white head and with a black spot are female). However, ladybirds inhabiting Europe are somewhat uniform and bear little sexual characteristic features, thus it can be impossible to tell the sex of an individual ladybird sorry SD
Most Ladybirds mate in the spring or summer and the female lays a cluster of eggs (numbering from a few to a few hundred, depending on species) as near as possible to an aphid colony. In most species of ladybird these eggs hatch into a larval state within a week. This state lasts 10 - 15 days, and they then go into a pupal stage before becoming an adult Ladybird. The entire life cycle of the Ladybird is only 4 - 7 weeks.

Ladybirds lay extra infertile eggs with the fertile eggs. These appear to provide a backup food source for the larvae when they hatch. The ratio of infertile to fertile eggs increases with scarcity of food at the time of egg laying.

Like all insects, the Ladybird is no different in that it undergoes complete metamorphosis through its life cycle.

The 4 stages are: egg - larvae - pupae - adult.

The female ladybird lays many tiny eggs in an aphid colony - the fertilization of the eggs is performed inside of the ladybird. In the spring a ladybird can lay up to 300 eggs at one laying.

The larvae then hatches from the tiny eggs. The larvae has 6 legs and is a long shape. As the larvae grows rapidly, it sheds its' skin several times. When it reaches full size, it attaches itself to the stem of a plant (by its' tail). The larval skin then splits down the back exposing the pupae.

The pupae is the size of an adult ladybird however, it is all wrapped up at this stage of the metamorphosis a bit like Xtreams brain. The wrapping protects the pupae while it undergoes the final stages of metamorphosis into the adult stage. This last stage only takes a few days. Thats just of the top of my head if your off spring want the full story click here..... http://www.glallotments.btik.com/news/1341122245.ikml

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Get cooking!

rugbymatt

BBq over.........bad news.

DebsyW

I`ve been told ladybirds are quite tasteless... but ants have a sour flavour. Just hope he hasn`t tried worms!

leighbloke

At risk of abuse - whats the bad news?

poshnbucks

No Welsh Lamb :curse: but its good way to highjack poor little SD and her nephews Thread

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What happened?

poshnbucks

What about all the info about the F in Ladybirds Once again just wasted my time.
Bet you bought your council house and didn't change the door.