Spectacular blue ladybug (7 photos)

Some interesting information about an exotic representative of ladybugs native to Australia. The insect boasts an iridescent blue-green color.





A knight in shining armor, a little hero fighting pests without sparing his belly. This is how we know the ladybug. But it turns out that our spotted bug has a tougher relative! The blue ladybug, wearing sparkling chitinous armor, set off on a real crusade against the eaters of human harvests!



Surprisingly, a small, repainted cow lives next to the world chthony in Australia. How a 3-4 mm long bug remained a cute little sparkle and did not turn into a poisonous cannibal with huge mandibles is an open question. But for its enemies, the creature shimmering with azure and ultramarine still becomes a terrible nightmare.





To be fair, the beech tree did not go on a campaign against pests of its own free will. The homeland of the blue ladybug is America and Australia. But at the beginning of the 20th century, people decided to fight pests that they themselves had brought. A wedge is knocked out with a wedge, and pests are their natural enemies, the settlers of that time thought. This is how the blue ladybug came to New Zealand and Hawaii.



On the one hand, cows really help fight pests. They cheerfully crunch on small scale insects, fruit flies and other parasites in the gardens of New Zealand and the Hawaiian Islands, which delights gardeners. On the other hand, nothing prevents them from chewing up local insects and causing a total reduction in arthropod populations in island ecosystems.



To the credit of this stylish insect, no environmental disaster has occurred anywhere in more than a century. Why? Competition! The Aboriginal Bukhas were not afraid to put the new settler in his place. Both archipelagos already have their own predators, and New Zealand even has its own ladybugs. And they do not allow the cyanotic tourist to fly into wild ecosystems and occupy ecological niches.



For example, Hawaiian scientists have found that ladybugs in the wild, among other insects, occupy only 11% of the population, while the absolute majority are local inhabitants. So it turns out that it’s easier for the shiny beetle to modestly return to the farmers’ citrus orchards, instead of competing with local rivals.



But there are still risks. Ecosystems are fragile things. Even one tenth of new predators could undermine the foundation. So far there are no serious problems, but entomologists on the islands remain alert and continue research. Suddenly, hiding under the blue armor is not a noble paladin fighting evil, but a small and cruel usurper!