Insect · Coccinella septempunctata
Discover the seven-spot ladybird
Puschel wants to count the spots. Flauschi explains that they do not show birthdays.
The short answer
Seven black spots on red wing cases help identify this ladybird. The hard cases protect thin flight wings beneath. It has six legs. Its spot count does not show its age.
An imagined Wusel scene
Puschel and Flauschi investigate
A red beetle sits on a leaf. Puschel“Is it seven years old?” asks Puschel. Flauschi smiles and shakes her head. Flauschi“The spots show its pattern, not its birthday.”
Puschel counts slowly without touching the leaf. The beetle walks on. Puschel“It takes its spots along!”
Flauschi laughs softly. Together they let the little traveller continue. Puschel remembers: asking is better than counting spots when you want to know a birthday.
What it looks like
The red wing cases have seven black spots. One lies across the join near the front.
How it lives
Beetles are insects with six legs. Their thin flight wings sit beneath the hard wing cases.
Good to know
Adult seven-spot ladybirds and their larvae eat many aphids. A ladybird’s spot count does not tell its age.
Little Wusel quiz
Can its spots tell you its age?
Show answer
No. Seven spots are the typical pattern of this species, not its age in years.
Explore in more detail
Here you will find longer explanations and further details. You can explore them together.
Understand step by step
How it works – simply explained
A beetle protects flight wings
Red wing cases are firm forewings. Thin hindwings underneath enable flight; covers and flight wings differ.
Young beetles feed too
Larvae do not look like round red adults. Both eat many aphids; different bodies can belong to one species.
Spots are not birthdays
Seven spots form a species pattern, not one extra spot per year. The picture helps recognition, not age calculation.
References for this explanation: [1]
Explore animal sounds
We currently have no freely reusable recording reliably identified as this animal. That does not mean it is completely silent. Explore it in the picture and observe animals outdoors from a distance without touching or disturbing them.
More about this animal: NABU Insektentrainer: Siebenpunkt-Marienkäfer