• AIRPASS PRO+ MOISTURE-WICKING, QUICK-DRY TECHNOLOGY • 30+ SPF UV PROTECTION • VIBRANT DYE-SUBLIMATION PRINTING KEEPS COLORS BRIGHT AND TRUE, WASH AFTER WASH This lady bug jersey features yellow (black background) ladybugs, wandering about among white polka dots. The polka dots, of course, signal a return to 50’s and early 60’s fashion fabrics. The Coccinellidae are a family of small beetles, ranging from 0.8 to 18 mm (0.0315 to 0.708 inches). They are commonly yellow, orange, or scarlet with small black spots on their wing covers, with black legs, heads and antennae. Such colour patterns vary greatly, however; for example, a minority of species, such as Vibidia duodecimguttata, a twelve-spotted species, have whitish spots on a brown background. Coccinellids are found worldwide, with over 5,000 species described. Most coccinellids have oval, dome-shaped bodies with six short legs. Depending on the species, they can have spots, stripes, or no markings at all. Seven-spotted coccinellids are red or orange with three spots on each side and one in the middle; they have a black head with white patches on each side. As well as the usual yellow and deep red colorings, many coccinellid species are mostly, or entirely, black, dark grey, gray, or brown, and may be difficult for an entomologist/nonentomologists to recognize as coccinellids at all. Coccinellidae are known colloquially as ladybirds (in Britain, Ireland, the Commonwealth, and some parts of the southern United States), ladybugs (originating in North America) or lady cows, among other names. When they need to use a common name, entomologists in the United States widely prefer the names ladybird beetles or lady beetles as these insects are not true bugs. The Coccinellidae are generally considered useful insects, because many species feed on aphids or scale insects, which are pests in gardens, agricultural fields, orchards, and similar places. Within the colonies of such plant-eating pests, they will lay hundreds of eggs, and when these hatch, the larvae will commence feeding immediately. Coccinellid is derived from the Latin word coccineus meaning "scarlet". 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 symbolize her seven joys and seven sorrows. In the United States, the name was adapted to "ladybug". Common names in other European languages have the same association, for example, the German name Marienkäfer translates to Marybeetle.
