A ladybird is a small, round beetle — a kind of insect, not a bird, though the name makes it sound like one. The picture most children know is red with black spots, often seven of them; though actually ladybirds also come in yellow, orange, and even black, and the spots are not always seven. In British English this is the ordinary word; American English calls the same insect a ladybug. Gardeners are glad to see them, because they eat aphids, the tiny bugs that suck on plant stems. Many children are told it is lucky if one lands on you. The “lady” in the name is Mary, the mother of Jesus — an old Christian naming, not a woman in a dress. You meet the word in stories, gardens, and school nature lessons; it is friendly and everyday, not scientific.