In flagrante delicto

The garden is awash with ladybirds and with the sun out this morning they were busy creating even more of their kind!

I suddenly realised that after decades of looking at them I had no idea as to why they are called ladybirds. Luckily my good friend Prof. Google knows:

"The name ladybird originated in Britain where the insects became known as "Our Lady's bird" or the Lady beetle.  Mary (Our Lady) was often depicted wearing a red cloak in early paintings, and the spots of the seven-spot ladybird (the most common in Europe) were said to symbolise her seven joys and seven sorrows."