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#109 LADYBUG   CLOCK

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CLOCK SIZE  APPROX. 9"

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There are nearly 5,000 different kinds of ladybugs worldwide and 400  which live in North America.

A female ladybug will lay more than 1000 eggs in her lifetime.

A ladybug beats its wings 85 times a second when it flies.

Aphids are a ladybug's favorite food.

Ladybugs chew from side to side and not up and down like people do.

A gallon jar will hold from 72,000 to 80,000 ladybugs.

Ladybugs make a chemical that smells and tastes terrible so that birds and other predators won't eat them.

If you squeeze a ladybug it will bite you, but the bite won't hurt.

The spots on a ladybug fade as the ladybug gets older.

During hibernation, ladybugs feed on their stored fat.

Ladybugs won't fly if the temperature is below 55 degrees Fahrenheit.

The ladybug is the official state insect of Delaware, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Ohio, and Tennessee.

The male ladybug is usually smaller than the female.

The Asian Lady Beetle can live up to 2-3 years if the conditions are right.

Those parts are the head, thorax and abdomen. The head of the ladybug has the ocelli (photoreceptive eyes), the antennae, and chewing mouth parts or mandibles. The thorax is the "power house". It contains the muscular system for the two front legs and both pairs of wings. The abdomen houses the reproductive organs, circulatory, digestive, and excretory systems, along with muscular systems to power these systems and the remaining legs.

The legs of a ladybug are segmented, having several parts. The legs connect to the body in such a way in that they allow the ladybug to move easily horizontally. Simple, serrated claws and sticky pads are located on the underside of the legs which increase mobility, provide a secure hold when mating and make going after aphids on the underside of a plant much easier. Click on the highlighted title to see an electron scan of the ladybug's legs.

Ladybugs have two (2) pairs of wings. The most obvious wings are those brightly colored, exoskeleton elytra. These outer wings are part of the exoskeleton, providing protection for the delicate systems inside. Underneath the elytra are another pair of wings, the flying wings. These wings are semi-transparent and much longer then the above. These wings have a series of blood vessels throughout which when pumped up, expand the full flight wings. When not in use, they are deflated and folded up for another flight.

The antennae of the ladybug are incredible. The antennae are equipped with sensory organs that detect food, water, vibrations and pheromones from other ladybugs. Because the antennae are such an important part of the body, ladybugs must keep them clean. The ladybug cleans the antennae with its legs. The legs have fine hairs and sticky pads which enable very delicate, but thorough cleaning.
Ladybugs, also, have a second pair of sensory organs that look like another smaller pair of antennae. These are called palps. They are highly sensitive structures that enable the ladybug to push food into its mouth.

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. This means that the left and right sides of the body are mirror images of each other. They are the same on both sides.

Ladybugs reproduce sexually, meaning that a male and a female of the same species is required for reproducing successful offspring. Each species of ladybug has its own pheromones for attracting a mate.Several times a year, ladybugs will come together for the purpose of mating. Large masses of ladybugs are said to be in a "swarm" prior to mating. Once a male has found a female to mate with, he will grasp her firmly from behind using the front most part of the leg, called the tarsi. The tarsi  is like a serrated claw with sticky pads. This allows the male to get a stable grip of the female during copulation.. In this position, it looks as though one is getting a "piggy-back" ride.   The male's genetic material is passed to the female through an ejaculatory gland, much like an oviposititor for the female. The male's genetic material than passes into the female through the oviduct to the spermatheca. This is a special sac in the female's body where the sperm can be stored for upto several months before it is used to fertilize the eggs as they are laid.
Ladybugs tend to lay their eggs where food is abundant.

Once an aphid has been captured, it is off to the digestive system. The manibles, or mouth parts, of the ladybug begin the digestive process by chewing up the aphid. Next, it moves into the foregut, midgut and hindgut for further break down. The movement that takes the aphid from the mouth parts through the body and to eventually be excreted is called peristalsis. It is known as rhythmic muscle contractions. During the course of this movement, nutrients are being absorbed by the body and any solid waste will be excreted through the anus.

Ladybugs don’t have a circulatory system like humans. They have an open circulatory system, no arteries or veins. Their blood flows freely throughout the body bathing all the organs in nutrients and hormones. Their blood is sometimes seen as yellow, which means they don’t have red blood cells, oxygen carriers for humans. The ladybug does have a heart with three chambers. It looks like a partly blown up balloon that has been stretched out long. It extends the length of the body and is open at both ends. The heart primarily gives some order to the transport of hormones from the brain to the reproduction system. Click the Circulation Title for the link to the diagram.

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