Return of ladybirds

Press, 4 October 1977, Page 38

Return of ladybirds

Now that spring has come, the dainty ladybirds will wake up from their winter sleep. They have been hibernating in cracks of buildings, and under leaves and stones, but soon you may notice one flying among the trees and plants. I expect you know this little insect with the gay-coloured shell on her back. It is usually orange coloured and marked with black dots.

If you are patient, you may see the ladybird cleaning herself — or himself; for, in spite of the name, there are males, too. She washes her face with her front legs and then cleans her middle and back legs by rubbing them against one another; and she nibbles the dust off her front legs. You may like to pick up the ladybird. Be very

gentle with her and set her on your finger. Perhaps you will say these words, which children have chanted for hundreds of years all over the world: _ _j Ladybird, ladybird, Fly away home, Your house is one fire And your children all gone; All except one And that’s little Ann And she crept under The warming pan. Most children blow upon the little creature when they have finished the rhyme and she usually flies away. I’m sorry I cannot tell you more about Ann and the ladybird’s other children, but I think the fire may have started in a tree, as that is where the babies would live. They are. helpless when they are small and without wings,

so they cannot escape danger easily. The ladybird is supposed to bring goodluck, but even if nothing special happens to you after you have wished on her, you can still be glad when you see one. For though ladybirds are small, they are friends of trees. They help us care for our gardens, orchards, and forests by eating insect pests. Aphids, for example, suck the juice from leaves and cause trees to die slowly. Ladybirds, however, are good hunters, and as few as 12 of them can save the life of a fruit tree by feasting on the pests which are destroying it. Next time you see a ladybird, remember to say the rhyme. And, if she wishes, let her walk safely across your hand.