Bug card No. 1836 of 4,939

Giant bamboo ladybird

Synonycha grandis

Eats: Other bugs and small animals LadybirdsGardens and meadows6 legs

The giant bamboo ladybird is a big, round ladybird. Its wing cases are yellow to red with black spots. It is a hungry hunter of the tiny bugs that live on bamboo.

Lives in

Southern and eastern Asia, Australia and Pacific islands, now also in the United States

Length

1.3 cm (0.51 in)

Top speed

about 44 km/h (27 mph)

Flying, estimate

Can it hurt you?

Harmless

Harmless. If you bother it, it lets out a smelly yellow liquid, so it is best to just watch.

What does it eat?

It gobbles up aphids, tiny sap-sucking bugs that live on bamboo and other plants. Its babies eat them too.

Photo of Giant bamboo ladybird — Picture by Yercaud-elango. CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons.

How big is it?

How long is it?

as long as 2 grains of rice in a rowcould fly across a whole football pitch in 8.6 secondsmoves 940 times its own body length every second

How big is Giant bamboo ladybird compared to YOU?

Just maths in your browser. Nothing is saved or sent anywhere.

How fast is it?

A kid running fast about 13 km/h (8.1 mph)

A grown-up on a bike about 25 km/h (16 mph)

Giant bamboo ladybird about 44 km/h (27 mph)

A car driving in town about 50 km/h (31 mph)

cool stuff

Fun facts

At about 13 millimetres long, it is a very big ladybird.

When it is disturbed, it oozes a smelly yellow liquid to keep enemies away.

A brand new grown-up is golden yellow with soft wings. It waits in its old pupa skin until its wings get hard.

Its babies grow up to about 2 centimetres long before they turn into ladybirds.

It is the only kind of ladybird in its group.

you asked

Most asked questions about Giant bamboo ladybird

?How big is the giant bamboo ladybird?

It is about 13 millimetres long, much bigger than most ladybirds.

?What does the giant bamboo ladybird eat?

It eats aphids, especially the ones that live on bamboo.

?Is the giant bamboo ladybird dangerous?

No. It is harmless, but it can let out a smelly liquid if bothered.

For bug experts

Scientific name: Synonycha grandis
Group: Ladybirds
Family: Coccinellidae
Classification: Insecta > Coleoptera > Coccinellidae
Lives on: Asia, Australia and Oceania, North America

Where the facts come from

Synonycha (Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0): what it looks like, where it lives, what it eats, sizes and fun facts, retold in simple words.
Picture by Yercaud-elango. CC BY-SA 4.0, Wikimedia Commons. The sticker of this bug is drawn from this picture.

If we got something wrong, sorry, we are bug fans, not a science journal. Tell us at [email protected] and we will fix it.

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