Proud Mom Guest Post from Donnie's Domain The Bug Blog Ladybug Edition

Are you most at home hiking and biking through the great outdoors or do you go outdoors to get into your vehicle that will promptly transport you to your next indoor destination?  Personally, my comfort level fluctuates somewhere in between the two extremes with a list of conditions that can make or break the deal either way. We've got a tween that would spend the entire day outdoors, if we allowed him the luxury. Check out my Proud Mom Guest Post from Donnie's Domain The Bug Blog Ladybug Edition.

Thank You to Safari Ltd. for sponsoring Donnie's Domain Bug Blog Review.

Donnie's Domain The Bug Blog Ladybug Edition

As a parent, a determined effort is made toward avoiding negative prejudices that limit the experiences of my children and to encourage their developing minds to remain open to new challenges. 

With that being said, I now introduce the extraordinary blogging talents of my very own tween. In the spirit of nepotism, he has somehow managed to keep his position as my Bug Blog Guest Blogger.  In the real world, he'd be one starving artist. 

Without further adieu, Donnie's Domain presents The Bug Blog Ladybug Edition, the big reveal of his review of Safariology Science- The Life Cycle of a Ladybug from Safari Ltd.  

Did you know that the average lifespan of the ladybug is only one year? One of the most recognizable members of the insect family is the ladybug which is also know as the ladybird or ladybeetle. Ladybugs are beetles, a class of insects with a tough outer-wing membrane used to protect their second set of wings when not in flight. These tiny beetles have dome-shaped bodies and range in color from yellow to orange to bright red with black spots on its body. Here is some super interesting information that I researched using the Safariology Science Collection- The Life Cycle of a Ladybug from Safari Ltd.

  

The Life Cycle of  a Ladybug

Can you imagine that just one female ladybug can destroy a whole nest of aphids? The way that ladybugs are capable of doing such  damage is by laying eggs in an aphid nest and then they leave. The newborn larvae hatch from these eggs and eat as many aphids as they possible which eventually destroys the nest of aphids.   

The pupa stage is the most dangerous phase of development for ladybugs, this is time when the soft, young ladybugs are developing their hardened protective outer wings. Adult ladybugs are known to have mastered some complicated defense strategies. One strategy is to release a very foul odor, emitted from pores on their underbelly to repel predators such as birds, frogs wasps and dragonflies. Another defense mechanism is to "reflex bleed" from their joints to make themselves taste too disgusting for most predators to eat.  Ladybugs have even been known to play dead or play "turtle." Adult ladybugs are able to tuck their legs into their dome and pull their heads in. This protective position makes it hard for predators to grab the ladybugs.

Many people say that finding a ladybug is good luck. We must live in a very lucky house! We are lucky that ladybugs eat lots of insects that we wouldn't want to invade our home. We have been bug hunting around our house and were able to find an actual ladybug larvae in the attic. It really looked just like the hand painted Safariology Science Collection model from Safari LTD.  

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Fact or Fiction 

Is it fact or fiction that you can tell a ladybug's age by the number of spots on its back? What do you think?

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