If you haven’t seen it yet, there’s a viral video on the internet of a ladybug following around a line drawn on paper. But why do ladybugs follow red lines like this? Let’s find out
Keeping various insect species as pets lets you make a variety of fun and interesting observations.
Bug nerds can spend hours watching various unique and intriguing behavioral trains among different insects.
If you have a ladybug, you might notice that it follows red lines drawn on a piece of paper. If you haven’t seen it yourself, here’s a video showing what they do:
While such behavior is remarkable, it’s not exclusive to your pet! This is a common trait among all species of ladybugs and many other insects.
They tend to follow red lines with quite a determination. Let’s explore and find out the explanation behind this behavior.
Why Do Ladybugs Follow Red Lines?
You may have discovered this interesting behavior of lady beetles by accident, but here’s a quick experiment that you can perform.
Place a ladybird on a piece of paper and start drawing a line with a red pen. You don’t need a straight line – it can even be completely irregular, more like a scribble.
You’ll likely find that the ladybug still follows the line, no matter what. Naturally, this raises a burning question about the reason behind such behavior.
There’s a clear scientific explanation behind this behavior, but let’s clear up a misconception before we get to it.
The red color is irrelevant – it’s the smell of the ink that matters.
The ladybugs don’t exactly chase the “red” line. They chase the train left by the ink as you draw the line.
The concept of ladybugs and termites following red lines emerged simply due to a coincidence.
Now, here’s what happens – the ink of ballpoint pens is often chemically similar to the pheromones used by ladybugs to communicate among themselves.
While not every ink shares such characteristics, some can get close enough to fool even the ladybugs.
They end up following the line you draw with the pen, assuming it to be a pheromone trail.
It’s all about the smell of the ink; the closer it is to ladybug pheromones, the likelier they are to follow.
Other fascinating facts about ladybugs
A ladybug’s tendency to follow lines is quite interesting, but it’s not the only fascinating detail about these cute little beetles. Here are a few more that you might enjoy:
1. Ladybug larvae resemble miniature alligators
In case you have never seen a ladybug larva or know how they look, you’ll never identify them as young ladybugs.
With long and spiny bodies, these larvae look very much like tiny alligators. They’re usually black, with bright yellow or red markings.
This is the complete opposite of the appearance of adult ladybugs. A ladybug larva has a pointed abdomen with legs coming out of the sides.
2. Ladybugs can be of various patterns and colors
When we hear “ladybug,” the image that comes to our mind is that of a small, dome-shaped insect with a bright red body and black spots.
This is the look we always associate ladybugs with, largely because that’s how the native ladybug and other common ladybug species look.
However, don’t be surprised if you come across a yellow ladybug or an orange ladybug, as these beetles do come in those colors too.
While these two types of ladybugs at least share similar patterns as native ladybugs, the twice-stabbed ladybug looks like an entirely different species.
This ladybug has a shiny black body, with a red dot on either side.
3. Ladybugs have a monstrous appetite
Did you know that just a single ladybug can feast on more than 5,000 insects throughout its life cycle?
Such a voracious appetite is one of the key reasons why ladybugs are one of the best agents of biological pest control.
A variety of ladybug species from around the world were even introduced to North America specifically to protect crops against pests.
The reason behind this monstrous appetite is simple – ladybugs hibernate during the winter, and they are simply building up fat reserves during the summer.
The appetite of a ladybug larva is even greater than that of an adult ladybug.
4. Ladybugs can turn to cannibalism
If you’re keeping ladybugs as pets, it’s a bad idea to put too many of them together unless there’s a large food source nearby to sustain all of them.
To sate their voracious appetite, ladybugs can even turn against each other and practice cannibalism if they do not have enough food available.
While ladybugs can’t eat hard-bodied insects (including other fully mature ladybugs), they can still feed on pupae, larvae, or nearly emerged ladybugs that are yet to harden.
Quite interestingly, female ladybugs often lay a bunch of infertile eggs for the newborn larvae to feed on if food is scarce.
Frequently Asked Questions
Why do ladybugs follow red pen lines?
The pheromone used by ladybugs to communicate has a similar chemical composition as chemicals commonly used in pen ink.
They rely on their sense of smell to detect pheromones, as a result of which lines drawn with pens appear to them as pheromone trails.
Do ladybugs have warning colors?
The color of a ladybug warns its predators against eating it. Bugs and beetles of bright colors are usually toxic, and it’s the same case with ladybugs too.
They synthesize poisonous alkaloids from the chemicals present in their prey. Asian lady beetles are known to secrete toxic blood from their legs when threatened.
Why do bugs not go over ink?
Just like ladybugs following ink trails, many bugs avoid crossing ink lines and end up trapped if you draw a circle around them.
This could be due to several reasons, such as the ink chemicals smelling similar to a pheromone they don’t link or the bugs not willing to step on the ink’s solvent.
Why won’t bugs cross a drawing?
Many bugs do not cross pen or chalk drawings, and there are several explanations behind this behavior.
They might find the smell of the ink unpleasant, or the chemicals in ink may be similar to the pheromone of a predator.
Many bugs can also sense the ink’s solvent with their feelers and are afraid to get stuck in it.
Wrap Up
Regardless of whether you need to curb the aphid population in your garden or simply love keeping different insects as pets, it’s worth getting a few ladybugs.
You’d enjoy spending some leisure time watching these cute beetles crawl around and go about their activities. Mostly harmless, ladybugs also make great pets for kids.
Thank you for reading!
