The farmers began calling the insects “The Beetles of Our Lady” in appreciation of Mary, and they eventually became known as Lady Beetles.

This is just one of the tales of intrigue surrounding our spotted friends. Cemented in folklore the humble lady bug is credited as a bearer of good luck, money (the amount depending on the number of spots!) and even when mashed up and put in a cavity as a cure for toothaches! A popular subject of prose and poetry it is hardly surprising that the Ladybug is one of our most loved insects.

But it’s not all fairytales and folklore for these little bugs. Recognised primarily for their shiny red coats and black spots you might be surprised to learn that of the 5000 species of Ladybird that abound most are actually plain black or brown.

No matter how they look though, Ladybugs practicality in the garden is undisputed. Driven by a keen appetite for plant-eating insects the Ladybug offers an environmentally friendly and fun alternative to nasty insecticides to help control insect pests in the garden.

Feeding on plant-eating aphids, scale insects and spider mites, Ladybirds are a very beneficial. Despite their size and short life span of around two months, one Ladybug can consume in excess of 5000 aphids in its lifetime – now that will definitely please your roses!

If you’ve already got lady bugs in your garden it’s a great sign of biological diversity, if not, pollen and vector flowers such as dill and angelica are attractions, as are grains and flowering weeds like dandelion, wild carrot and yarrow.

But for a faster solution to insect pest relief you can now buy Ladybugs by the bucketful and get them working right away to have your garden sparkling for summer.

A fun and environmentally friendly solution to your insect problems, a bucketful of ladybirds is a great gift idea for the gardener in the family and a novelty for the kids. Check out the Bugs for Bugs website for more information http://www.bugsforbugs.com.au on how to get Lady bugs charming your garden.

• In Sweden, people believe that if a ladybug lands on a young maiden's hand, she will soon be getting married.
• If you find a ladybug in your house, count the number of spots and that is how many dollars you will soon receive.
• In England, finding a ladybug means that you will have a good harvest.
• In France, if you are sick and a ladybug lands on you, when it flies away, it will take the sickness with it.
• If a ladybug has more than seven spots, then there will be a famine. If it has less than seven, then there will be a good harvest.
• Some people believe that the number of spots on a ladybug indicates how many children you will have.
• If you find a ladybug in your house in the winter you will have good luck