Ladybird Beetle vs. Aphid
Wherein I learned that we don't call them "ladybugs" anymore
Today’s gif is my own creation. I was inspired by this informative video by PBS Terra, Insectarium, a series produced for PBS by the American Museum of Natural History.
For sure, I took some creative liberties on my rendering of the two insects. Aphids are much smaller relative to ladybird beetles and they don’t have fangs or the ability to chew. Nor do either have blobby giant-head bodies or oversized googly eyes. I can not resist “cute-ifying” my creations, ever!
While they are insects, ladybird beetles are not bugs. That’s because they are, well... beetles. Bugs and beetles are differentiated by their types of mouths: beetles have chewing mouthparts, whereas bugs have a piercing beak called a rostrum. The rostrum is used like a hypodermic needle, sucking juices from plants or animal prey. So calling ladybird beetles—who possess chewing abilities—“ladybugs” is therefore a misnomer. Will I, set in my ways, call them “ladybird beetles” now? I promise to try, but no guarantees.
Aphids, on the other hand, are definitely bugs. As any gardener will tell you, they can be serious pests, using those little rostrums to suck plant stalks and leaves dry and playing havoc on our veggie and flower gardens. A further problem with aphids is that they can carry diseases from one plant to another, such as rose blight and viruses that can decimate vegetable crops. Ladybugs, er, I mean ladybird beetles, help combat the aphid problem by eating the pests: some ladybird beetle larvae can eat their own weight in aphids in a single day.
Aphids are, naturally, not keen to be in places where they can become ladybird beetle meals. The beetles give off a distinct order that, when they detect it, will drive aphids to leave the area. Some people say ladybird beetles smell like corn chips, and now I’m going to have to go out into my own garden and confirm that. Researcher Sara Hermann at Pennsylvania State University is studying ways that this ladybird beetle “perfume” might be employed as pest control, with the potential to save not only our own gardens but to also be used in wider agriculture business applications. Learn more about her fascinating research in the embedded Insectarium video above.
Grass texture image used for this animation is by macrovector on Freepik. Thanks macrovector!
Yet more edjumacation, from our Glambassador! Thanks!
I have always loved ladybugs. If she be beetle, let it be, let it be.