Willett Garden of Learning
Ladybug
Activity: Observe live ladybugs.
Goals: To learn about the life cycle of ladybugs, to
explore the concept of balance in our garden and the
importance of ladybugs for pest control.
Supplies:
 Live ladybugs
 “Ladybug” book
 Magnifying glasses
How to proceed:
Read “Ladybug” book to students.
Distribute containers of ladybugs and magnifying glasses. Help children carefully remove lids and use magnifying glass to
cover top of container (careful not to let ladybugs escape).
Note: we have one set of ladybugs for all the classes to share, so please don’t set the ladybugs free.
More information on this topic is available at http://www2.dcn.org/orgs/willettgarden/spages/SD1143384095
Background Information
Ladybugs are insects, meaning they have six legs. They are not true “bugs,” but instead are a type of beetle. Like other
beetles, ladybugs have two sets of wings. The outer, colored set of wings is hard and protective, whereas the inner set of
flying wings is larger and soft and transparent (see life cycle photo of adult ladybug for illustration.)
Ladybugs come in many different colors. Some have spots and some don’t. There are more than 4,000 varieties of
ladybugs in the world and about 400 in the United States.
Ladybugs feast on aphids and some other soft-bodied insects. Aphids are small green or brown insects that suck fluids
from plants in our garden. Look for aphids on crop plants in the Edibles and other gardens at school. Aphids are also
fond of roses. Releasing ladybugs into a gardens benefits plants by helping to control these insects, and does so naturally,
without the use of insecticides (chemicals which will kill the aphids but may also harm the environment.)
A ladybug has four stages of life: egg, larvae, pupa and adult. A female ladybug that is about to lay eggs looks for aphids.
She lays her eggs on a leaf next to the aphids, so that when the larvae hatch, they have food to eat. A larva eats and
eats and grows and grows, shedding its tight skin four times. Then the larva attaches itself to a leaf, ready to change into a
pupa. Inside the pupa the larva is changing into an adult ladybug. After five days the change is complete and the
ladybug pushes from the inside until the shell splits open. This transformation of form during development is called
metamorphosis.
When danger is near, ladybugs flop on their backs and stay very still until it is safe. They also produce a vile-tasting and
bad-smelling fluid from their joints that keeps some animals from eating them. This is the yellow fluid that you sometimes
see on your hand when you hold a ladybug.
Many ladybugs hibernate in the winter. They look for a warm place under a pile of leaves or in the hollow of a log. They
hibernate with other ladybugs until the cold weather is over. Then when spring arrives, they come out ready to eat.
Life Cycle of a Ladybug
Ladybug larvae just emerged from the egg. Each is
about the size of a large grain of sand.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Lady-beetle-larvae-just-hatched.jpg
Ladybug larva eating an aphid
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Sa_lady-beetle-larva.jpg
Ladybug pupa
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Ladybird_Pupate.jpg
Adult ladybug deploying wings
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:LadybugWingsClose.jpg