Photo copyrighted (2005) by Andrew Wright/Lighthawk

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Taxonomy

How are Ladybugs Classified?

Kingdom... Animalia.... ..(All animals)
Phylum... ..Arthropoda.. (Invertebrates)
Class...........Insecta ...........(Insects)
Order.........Coleoptera....(Beetles.)
Family.......Coccinellidae..(Lady beetles)
Genus....... Hippodamia...( Lady beetle type)
species.......convergens.....(specific ladybug)

     

Larva                        Adult

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Emerging from Sleep

All about the body

Insects have three main body parts. They include the head, thorax and abdomen.

Insects have 6 jointed legs
The legs of a ladybug are segmented. Click on the title to see an electron scan of the ladybug's legs.

Ladybugs have two (2) pairs of wings.  exoskeleton elytra.  Underneath the elytra are another pair of wings, the flying wings.

The antennae of the ladybug are incredible. The antennae are equipped with sensory organs.  Ladybugs must keep the antennae clean. The ladybug uses its legs for this job. Ladybugs, also, have a second pair of sensory organs that look like another smaller pair of antennae. These are called palps.

Recent technological advances show that ladybugs have two compound eyes. The eyes are multi-faceted, and deemed simple rather than complex. At this point, studies are not clear on the complexity of information processed by the ladybug eye. The eyes were previously termed photoreceptors, which was understood to process only light and dark images. They don't see colors, only shadows.

Beetles exhibit bilateral symmetry.

Ladybugs reproduce sexually. Each species of ladybug has its own pheromones for attracting a mate. Ladybugs tend to lay their eggs where food is abundant. Learn more about ladybug reproduction.

Updated on 10/21/2006