Directions: Print out the animal picture and color. Cut out the pictures by cutting on the solid lines and dotted lines. Assemble the picture by connecting each end of the base piece with double-sided or scotch tape so the picture stands up. Print out the page with the poem and the facts and place it in your own poem book. Illustrate the poem. Write your own story or poem and add it to your poem book.

Ladybug Facts.

Ladybugs, called ladybird beetles, belong to a large and varied group of insects. Adults are identified by their peculiar front wings, which are thick, hardened covers, and their black spots. When not in flight, these covers protect the thin, folded second pair of underwings. The main disadvantage of the heavy wing covers is that they are slow in taking flight and therefore make the beetle vulnerable to predators or people. They use only their hind wings when they fly.

Ladybugs have the typical triple body division of all insects; head, thorax, and abdomen. Their heads are armed with small biting mouthparts. They like to eat plant-eating aphids and other small garden pests, like red spider mites, found on roses, cherry trees, bean plants, and others.

Ladybugs are a friend of the farmer and gardner who like to see them in their fields. They are hatched from 3-300 tiny eggs which are laid near aphid colonies. They hatch in 5-8 days and the larvae, called grubs, proceed to eat the aphids. The mature grub turns into a resting or pupa stage; and it emerges in 10-15 days as an adult ladybug. The whole process takes 5-7 weeks.

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