ladybird beetle

[ley-dee-burd]

noun

1. ladybug.

Word History and Origins

Origin of ladybird beetle¹

1730–40, lady (uninflected possessive case) Virgin Mary + bird; i.e. (our) Lady's bird

Example Sentences

The attractive red and black ladybird beetle, or ladybug, celebrated in the nursery rhyme, eats aphids and other small insects—to the gardener's delight.

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But even when warmed up the ladybird beetle is too temperamental to breed in captivity, so that every one shipped has to be captured.

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Scientific investigations have failed to show that the release of this ladybird beetle in any aphis-infested field ever resulted in an effective reduction of the aphis population in that field.

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