It was not LEGO it were ladybugs!!!!!
If you don't know the difference between a ladybug and some plastic, here's the difference:
CoccinellidaeScientific classificationKingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Class: Insecta
Order: Coleoptera
Superfamily: Cucujoidea
Family: Coccinellidae
Latreille, 1807
SubfamiliesChilocorinae
Coccidulinae
Coccinellinae
Epilachninae
Scymininae
Sticholotidinae
etc.
Coccinellidae is a family of beetles, known variously as ladybirds (British English, Australian English, South African English), ladybugs (North American English) or lady beetles (preferred by some scientists). The family name comes from its type genus, Coccinella. Coccinellids are found worldwide, with over 5,000 species described[1], more than 450 native to North America alone. Coccinellids are small insects, ranging from 1 mm to 10 mm (0.04 to 0.4 inches), and are commonly yellow, orange, or scarlet with small black spots on their wing covers, with black legs, head and antennae. A very large number of species are mostly or entirely black, gray, or brown and may be difficult for non-entomologists to recognize as coccinellids (and, conversely, there are many small beetles that are easily mistaken as such, like tortoise beetles).
Coccinellids are generally considered useful insects as many species feed on aphids or scale insects, which are pests in gardens, agricultural fields, orchards, and similar places. The Mall of America, for instance, releases thousands of ladybugs into its indoor park as a natural means of pest control for its gardens[2]. Some people consider seeing them or having them land on one's body to be a sign of good luck to come, and that killing them presages bad luck. A few species are pests in North America and Europe.
BiologyCoccinellids are typically predators of Hemiptera such as aphids and scale insects, though members of the subfamily Epilachninae are herbivores, and can be very destructive agricultural pests (e.g., the Mexican bean beetle). They are also known to eat certain plants and crops when no other food is present, making them a possible pest to farmers and gardeners. While they are often used as biological control agents, introduced species of ladybirds (such as Harmonia axyridis or Coccinella septempunctata in North America) can outcompete and displace native coccinellids, and become pests in their own right.
Coccinellids are often brightly colored to ward away potential predators. This defense works because most predators associate bright colors (especially orange and black or yellow and black) with poison and other unpleasant properties. This phenomenon is called aposematism. In fact, most coccinellids are indeed poisonous to smaller predators, such as lizards and small birds; however, a human would have to eat several hundred coccinellids before feeling any effects.[citation needed] Adult coccinellids are able to reflex-bleed hemolymph from their leg joints, releasing their oily yellow toxin with a strong repellent smell. This becomes quite obvious when one handles a coccinellid roughly.
Most coccinellids mate in spring or summer and the female lays a cluster of eggs (numbering from a few to a few hundred, depending on species) as near as possible to an aphid colony. In most species these eggs hatch into a larval state within a week. This state lasts 10–15 days, and they then go into a pupal stage before becoming an adult coccinellid. The entire life cycle of the Coccinellid is only 4–7 weeks. Most ladybird species are univoltine, producing only one generation a year, although some are bivoltine.
Coccinellids lay extra infertile eggs with the fertile eggs. These appear to provide a backup food source for the larvae when they hatch. The ratio of infertile to fertile eggs increases with scarcity of food at the time of egg laying.
Some species are migratory and form large aggregations during the migratory period. They also form large aggregations when they go into hibernation in Winter.
HabitatsMost coccinellids are beneficial to gardeners in general, as they feed on aphids, scale insects, mealybugs, and mites throughout the year. As in many insects, ladybirds in temperate regions enter diapause during the winter, so they often are among the first insects to appear in the spring. Some species (e.g., Hippodamia convergens) gather into groups and move to higher land, such as a mountain, to enter diapause. Predatory ladybirds are usually found on plants where aphids or scale insects are, and they lay their eggs near their prey, to increase the likelihood the larvae will find the prey easily. Ladybirds are cosmopolitan in distribution, as are their prey.
Coccinellids as household pestsAlthough native species of coccinellids are typically considered benign, in North America the Asian lady beetle (Harmonia axyridis), introduced in the twentieth century to control aphids on agricultural crops, has become a serious household pest in some regions owing to its habit of overwintering in structures. It is similarly acquiring a pest reputation in Europe, where it is called the "Multicoloured Asian Ladybird" (In Britain: "Harlequin Ladybird"
.
Coccinellids in popular cultureCoccinellids are and have for very many years been favourite insects of children. The insects had many regional names (now mostly disused) such as the lady-cow, may-bug, golden-knop, golden-bugs (Suffolk); and variations on Bishop-Barnaby (Norfolk dialect) - (Barney, Burney) Barnabee, Burnabee, and the Bishop-that-burneth.
The ladybird is immortalised in the still-popular children's nursery rhyme Ladybird, Ladybird:“ Ladybird, ladybird, fly away home
Your house is on fire and your children are gone
All except one, and that's Little Anne
For she has crept under the warming pan. ”
Many variants exist, including one that seems ancient (recounted in an 1851 publication):“ Dowdy-cow, dowdy-cow, ride away heame,
Thy house is burnt, and thy bairns are tean,
And if thou means to save thy bairns
Take thy wings and flee away! ”
Here's are 2 ladybugs having sexual intercourse: (lesbian sex warning!!!)
And LEGO is an innocent plastic toy for small (and often young) people
Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 07/17/2008 01:54AM by I was ZaZ.