LADYBIRD

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

IPA (US):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does ladybird mean? 

• LADYBIRD (noun)
  The noun LADYBIRD has 1 sense:

1. small round bright-colored and spotted beetle that usually feeds on aphids and other insect pests

  Familiarity information: LADYBIRD used as a noun is very rare.

 Dictionary entry details 

• LADYBIRD (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

Small round bright-colored and spotted beetle that usually feeds on aphids and other insect pests

Classified under:

Nouns denoting animals

Synonyms:

lady beetle; ladybeetle; ladybird; ladybird beetle; ladybug

Hypernyms ("ladybird" is a kind of...):

beetle (insect having biting mouthparts and front wings modified to form horny covers overlying the membranous rear wings)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "ladybird"):

Adalia bipunctata; two-spotted ladybug (red ladybug with a black spot on each wing)

bean beetle; Epilachna varivestis; Mexican bean beetle (introduced into the United States from Mexico; feeds on the foliage of the bean plant)

Hippodamia convergens (a variety of ladybug)

Rodolia cardinalis; vedalia (native to Australia; introduced elsewhere to control scale insects)

Holonyms ("ladybird" is a member of...):

Coccinellidae; family Coccinellidae (the ladybugs)

 Context examples 

According to the study, making greater use of ladybirds as a natural form of pest control can increase yields and save farmers time and money.

(Study estimates true value of ladybird as biocontrol, SciDev.Net)

One of the most common ladybird species is bright red, and goes untouched by great tits.

(Birds learn from each other’s ‘disgust’, enabling insects to evolve bright colours, University of Cambridge)

Something great tits don’t eat, however, is a seven-spotted ladybird.

(Birds learn from each other’s ‘disgust’, enabling insects to evolve bright colours, University of Cambridge)

Ladybirds are natural predators of aphids, a primary cotton pest that greatly reduces crop yields.

(Study estimates true value of ladybird as biocontrol, SciDev.Net)

Social interactions within a predator species can have “evolutionary consequences” for potential prey – such as the conspicuous warning colours of insects like ladybirds.

(Birds learn from each other’s ‘disgust’, enabling insects to evolve bright colours, University of Cambridge)

The study estimated that cotton farmers in China could save more than US$300 million by doubling the density of ladybirds in their fields.

(Study estimates true value of ladybird as biocontrol, SciDev.Net)

The seven-spotted ladybird is so easy to see that if every predator had to eat one before they discovered its foul taste, it would have struggled to survive and reproduce.

(Birds learn from each other’s ‘disgust’, enabling insects to evolve bright colours, University of Cambridge)

Results of the study demonstrated for the first time the economic benefit of using natural predators such as ladybird beetles as a form of pest control.

(Study estimates true value of ladybird as biocontrol, SciDev.Net)

Other insects that are camouflaged, such as the brown larch ladybird or green winter moth caterpillar, are fed on by great tits and their young, said Thorogood.

(Birds learn from each other’s ‘disgust’, enabling insects to evolve bright colours, University of Cambridge)

For every additional 1,000 ladybirds per hectare of cotton, farmers used 0.69 kilograms less insecticide while also saving time from reduced insecticide spraying.

(Study estimates true value of ladybird as biocontrol, SciDev.Net)