Why do ladybeetles have spots?

Every creature in the animal kingdom has a way of protecting itself when it is in danger and some are more successful than others. Ladybeetles are no different. Ladybeetles protect themselves from predators by using their beautiful colours. The red colour and the black spots of a ladybeetle signals to other animals that they would probably not taste very good and so they should not eat these insects. Often in nature, things that are brightly coloured are the things to avoid eating as they are most often the most poisonous ones. The red and black colours that ladybeetles have actually have a specific name. This is called aposematic coloration which means warning coloration. Ladybeetles have this coloration to warn their predators not to eat them. When ladybeetles are scared, they release a toxic chemical through their leg joints that taste terrible to any hungry spider looking for some lunch.