Seven-Spot Ladybird

Ladybirds are probably everybody’s favourite beetles, and the distinctive 7-spot ladybird is the best known of them. Indeed the 7-spot’s appearance is believed to be the origin of the name ladybird (Our Lady’s bird), with its brightly-coloured wing-cases matching the red cloak that Mary was traditionally depicted wearing in old Christian paintings and the seven spots symbolizing Mary’s ‘seven joys and seven sorrows’. This ladybird is a voracious predator of aphids and so gives great joy, and no sorrow, to gardeners and farmers. These beetles are, of course, very easily ‘spotted’ in the garden, especially if there is a nearby nettle patch to nurture them in the spring, along with butterflies.

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