Help+and+Protection

Why ladybugs can be a good thing:
A ladybug is one creature that a lot of people don't actually mind. They remain small and usually have a pretty color on them. There is one group of people though that would say the ladybug is one of their favorite critters, and that would be farmers. When farmers are trying to grow their crops they often are troubled by pests like aphids. Ladybug eggs are usually laid around aphid colonies. When the eggs hatch larvae is produced. At this stage, the larvae have a very big appetite and will dine on hundreds of aphids to grow. When ladybugs eat the aphids they don’t interfere or hurt the growing crops, they are taking away the harmful pest. This provides pest control for farmers to help protect their crops without having to use pesticides.

How ladybugs protect themselves:
Although they are very small, ladybugs can do good job protecting themselves against enemies. When in danger a ladybug will secrete a fluid from their legs that will taste bad to their predator. Another animal won't want to eat them anymore after tasting that. The bold colors of their elytra and their black contrasting spots are then associated with the bad taste and make ladybugs unappealing to other animals that would normally try to eat it. Another way a lady bug can protect itself is by playing dead. The pronotum on the ladybug allows it to pull its head inside. The legs will also be pulled up close to the body and usually release a little blood or fowl smelling fluid. Since the ladybug will smell bad and look dead already, a predator will become less interested and then leave the ladybug alone.