Ladybird, ladybird fly away home,

Your house is on fire and your children are gone,

All except one, and her name is Ann,

And she hid under the baking pan.

But I cannot send her on her way as it is too chilly just yet. (For today’s purposes she is a ‘she’). A foundling on the bathroom floor, I struggled to imagine where she came from as she was so tiny, a speck really mostly yellow, but her shape was instantly recognizable. I carried her down to the living room where I have several Amaryllis infected with fungus gnats, again! I didn’t know if she might find them palatable as ladybugs eat, as every gardener knows, aphids. There are no aphids in the house I’m afraid but I did read that if Ladybugs, beetles, birds, whatever you call them, will eat fungus gnats if nothing else is available.

Two days later I found ladybug crawling up the window now fully red and twice her original size already so she must have found something to eat. Here she is in the process of a moult. Ladybugs shed several times as they morph from larva to adult. Here she looks as though she was covered in cling film!

Ladybugs have a typical insect life cycle as shown in this diagram although the larval form does not reflect the attractiveness of the adult. My ladybug will be released into the greenhouse in a few days as outside temperatures are due to warm up. She could, of course, go into hibernation outside for a bit longer but I chose to keep her inside to help me with the fungus gnats. There are many species of ladybugs worldwide but I cannot identify with certainty which one the foundling is.

So how did this little bug find its way into my bathroom when the temperatures outside are still below zero at night. My theory is this – my daughter gifted me with a beautiful spring doorstep planter that her husband made and she planted. Rather than buying several six packs of spring flowers, she purchased a mixed basket from the supermarket. It was obvious that this had only recently be made up as the plants popped out so easily. It had been transported directly from a warmer part of the province, from warm greenhouse where ladybugs are used for pest control and  into a warm supermarket.  I believe in carrying this into my house our teeny tiny new ladybug fell off into my clothing and hence ended up on the bathroom floor.

There are many versions of the ladybird rhyme above and the supposed meanings vary from dark to more lighthearted but not being around small children these days, I wonder if it is still used as much when a lady bug alights on your sleeve! Ladybugs are after all a signal of good luck and should be treated well.