Question

Name the key identifying feature of this insect.
A. Body segmentation
B. plumose type of antennae
C. Presence of proboscis at one end
D. Six marks (spots) on the pair of elytra

Answer 1

Hint: Cockroaches lie under the order Blattodea. The life cycle of the cockroaches can be studied in three different phases. These phases are namely, egg, nymph and adult.

Complete answer:
The insect depicted in the picture is that of a lady bird beetle. They are collectively called Coccinellidae that houses a family of small beetles. Ladybirds are well known for their activity on some aphids and some scale insects. They are mainly carnivorous in nature. The main predators of coccinellids are usually birds, but they are also the prey of frogs, wasps, spiders, and dragonflies. They are mainly found in bright colours so that it prevents them from getting eaten up by potential predators. They are also known to show the phenomena of reflex bleeding where an alkaloid toxin is released from the joints of their exoskeleton due to attack by prey. This mechanism is found in both larval and adult forms of the insect. They show the phenomena of diapause which is defined as dormancy in development in response to adverse environmental and external conditions. The body of a ladybird consists of head, pronotum ,leg, abdomen, antenna , eye, wing and elytra which consists of a total six spots.

Hence, the correct answer is option (D).

Note: Most people like ladybirds because they are beautiful and harmless to humans. However, they are useful to farmers because they eat aphids and insects that facilitate farmers.Ladybug and ladybird are the same terms that refers to the same insect.Ladybug is used in North America and ladybird is used in Britain.