by Rex Trulove

Created on: February 22, 2009   Last Updated: April 05, 2009

Few people who have been bitten by a ladybug will say that they can't bite. Yet many people have been spared the dubious distinction of having been bitten, so many may believe that they are incapable of biting. The obvious question then becomes, "What do they bite?"

Ladybugs have long been considered a friend to gardens, orchards, and lawns. This is because they are voracious when it comes to destroying aphids and other common garden pests. However, do they bite?

The answer is yes, absolutely. If they didn't, they would starve to death. Ladybug adults are equipped with piercing mouthparts, which they use to bite their prey. This doesn't mean that they all have the propensity or habit of biting humans, though. In fact, in most species, the mouthparts aren't large enough to puncture human flesh.

It should be remembered that for most species of ladybugs, the number one item on the dinner menu is an aphid. Aphids multiply so rapidly, in part because fertilization isn't required; that they can quickly overwhelm gardens, orchards, and lawns, and they suck the juices out of the plants they feed on.

Note: Except for the last generation of the year prior to winter, all aphids are female and are given birth pregnant. This is quite a time saver. Also, since only that last yearly generation of females lay eggs to get through the winter, aphids can quickly go from being a minor nuisance to being a major problem.

Since ladybugs eat huge numbers of aphids, it is easy to see why they would be considered a friend to the gardener. It is why they are sold every spring in so many garden supply shops as well as online.

A side note: Purchasing them is seldom necessary. Ladybugs live almost everywhere, as long as it is warm enough for them to survive and provided they have a food supply. In fact, where there is a food supply, chances are there will be ladybugs. Turning a few hundred loose in a garden at the start of aphid season isn't going to help much, since they will eat the aphids there, then move on to where there are more aphids. The other side of this is that if you have an aphid infestation, chances are great that you will also have ladybugs, even if you don't purchase them.

An aphid also has another common trait, other than their tendency to multiply quickly. Their bodies are covered with a soft and thin exoskeleton. This is far thinner than a human's skin. Hence, since most ladybugs are designed to eat aphids, their mouthparts don't need to be large or powerful enough to drill through a person's flesh.

It may sound like this would indicate that ladybugs don't bite people. This would be untrue, though. Keywords used thus far are "most ladybugs". Some ladybugs are more prone to eat scale insects, for instance. This requires larger and stronger mouthparts. These are in turn able to pierce a person's skin. This doesn't apply to most lady bugs, but it does to a few species.

It should also be remembered that there are insects that mimic ladybugs. Many of these look like ladybugs enough to make a person think the insect is a ladybug though it really isn't. Quite a few of these can and often do bite humans.

It still isn't common for ladybugs to bite people, though some are capable of it. However, the answer is that all ladybugs bite. It is just that most don't or can't bite people. Still, some of them can and will indeed bite people under the right conditions.

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