Ask a child..

..to draw the most important insect and it will draw a yellow bee with 2-3 black circles. Ask a child to draw the most beautiful insect, it will draw you a butterfly with colours and markings that have no equals in nature. But if you ask a child to draw the cutest insect, chances are that it will draw you a ladybug, a red one, with any number of black spots. Why is it that when we see them in nature the cute-o-meter instantly reaches the highest scale? Is it because of their look or because they are harmless to us and useful in gardening and agriculture as they eat aphids and mites?! Or have we just been conditioned like this? Ladybugs are also thought to bring fortune! There are all sorts of ladybugs-brings-good-luck legends from all around the world and people that normally would react with speed and sometimes violence if approached by an insect will wear ladybug-decorated jewlery without thinking that it is an insect! I think that is very cute, but where does that come from? And does it bring luck to photograph a ladybug where it is deciding the best strategy to catch a tiny spider?