Do ladybugs hibernate?
The ladybug is one of the most popular insect species, everyone thinks it is beautiful. Children love to let the ladybug crawl on their hand; as an aphid killer, it also serves all gardeners well. But what do these little animals do in winter? Are they hibernating or just hibernating? You can find out more about this and more about the ladybug here.
Interesting facts about the ladybug
- The ladybird hatches in spring as a larva from its egg, which is between 1.5 and 15 mm long and quite clumsy. On closer inspection you can see small outgrowths all over the body from which tufts of hair grow like bristles.
- You cannot tell a ladybug's age from the number of spots it has. The number of points does not change, but depends on the affiliation of the respective species. There are types with 2, 4, 5, 7, 10, 11, 13, 14, 16, 17, 18, 19, 22 and 24 points. In species with many points, the points can be so close that the ladybird appears to be completely black.
- The ladybug usually only lives a little over a year. It only hibernates once to lay its eggs in spring.
- If you have a garden, ladybugs should be a pleasure as they will keep your plants aphid free. Contrary to popular belief, ladybugs are not pests because they only feed on aphids.
This is how the ladybugs hibernate
It is actually like that Ladybug To hibernate, they fall into a kind of paralysis.
Hibernation, hibernation, hibernation - these are the differences
In a mild climate, the temperature does not play such an important role for living things as it does in ...
- Ladybugs also eat a kind of winter fat. They don't get fat, like bears, for example, but they do keep you feeling full.
- An amazing phenomenon is the formation of a natural antifreeze in the ladybugs' body fluid. They form glycerine before they hibernate, which protects them from freezing in freezing temperatures below zero and from bursting as a result. With their frost protection, ladybugs can withstand temperatures down to minus 15 ° Celsius.
- You will never find individual ladybugs hibernating; they always cluster into several hundred ladybirds. There are several reasons for this: many ladybugs huddled together keep each other warm. If they later wake up from hibernation, they do not need any additional time to find their partners in order to be able to lay eggs for the next generation.
- You can watch the ladybugs hide under leaves, old wood or tree bark to hibernate. This protects them from accidentally waking up from their hibernation prematurely in brighter light. Then they would starve.
This is how you help the ladybugs
- Leave old leaves lying around in your garden to create optimal quiet zones in which the ladybugs can hibernate.
- If you find them, do not bring the ladybugs into your house or apartment, but leave them outdoors, otherwise you will upset the ladybugs' biorhythm.
- Do not wake the ladybugs, leave them in their hibernation so that they can grow in spring when the warmer temperatures increase Beetle awaken, be able to lay eggs for the next generation of ladybugs.
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