A ladybug is a small, round beetle, often red or orange with black spots, that many people consider lucky and helpful in gardens.
From *lady* plus *bug*, with *lady* referring to the Virgin Mary in medieval Christian Europe. The insects were associated with protection of crops and were poetically called “Our Lady’s beetles.”
In British English, this insect is called a *ladybird*, even though it’s not a bird at all. The religious origin of the name shows how even tiny insects once lived in people’s imaginations as gifts from holy figures.
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