Ladybug
A ladybug's appetite: an adult may eat up to 75 aphids per day!
Ladybugs are a group of beetles that are also known as ladybird beetles, or lady beetles. The color on the wing covers (elytra) can be yellow, orange, or red and often has small black dots on it. Some species are entirely black. There are about 5,000 kinds of ladybugs in the world, and not all of them have spots—some even have stripes. Many ladybugs are brightly colored to advertise to predators that they should be left alone. If disturbed, they can release a foul-smelling chemical from their "knees" to keep enemies away.
The female ladybug lays her tiny, golden eggs on the undersides of leaves, usually near an aphid colony. Once hatched, the larvae eat about 350 to 400 aphids in the 2 weeks it takes them to become fully grown. As they grow, the larvae shed their skin several times. Once they are a certain size, the larvae stop eating and attach themselves to a plant leaf or stem. They then enter their next developmental stage, called the pupa. When it is time, the adult ladybug emerges from the pupa.
Area:
North, Central, and South America, Africa, Europe, and Asia
Habitat:
Forests, meadows, weed patches, and gardens
Food:
Aphids, fruit flies, and other small insects
Size:
About the size of a child's pinky fingernail
Babies:
Larvae hatch after 4 to 10 days.
(source:google/http://adminkids.sandiegozoo.org/)
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