Luck be a Ladybird: a 22-Spot Ladybird

Life on the 6^th floor of an old Parisian building usually gives me a view of rooftops, chimneys, and the occasional pigeon. But my tiny dill plant had a far more charming guest: a 22-Spot Ladybird: a golden-yellow beetle dotted like a miniature work of art.

Now, here’s the fun part:

Not all ladybirds are red! The 22-Spot Ladybird (Psyllobora vigintiduopunctata) is a cheerful yellow with 22 black irregular-sized spots. Instead of snacking on aphids like many of their cousins, these little rebels eat mildew. Yes, they are the cleaners of the insect world, nibbling away at the powdery stuff that gardeners dread.

Across cultures, ladybirds are considered harbingers of good fortune. In France, spotting one can mean a wish granted; in Germany, they’re called Marienkäfer (Mary’s beetles) and are protectors of crops. Finding one on my dill leaves in Paris feels like a small blessing.

Most ladybirds are voracious predators of aphids, scale insects, and mites. A single ladybird can munch through dozens of pests a day, making them eco-friendly bodyguards for plants. The 22-Spot Ladybird is the exception that proves the rule. It is still eco-friendly, but just in its own mildew-eating way.

Even in a big city, nature always finds the smallest cracks. If you spot a ladybird – red, yellow, or even orange – pause for a moment. If it lands on you, tradition says: make a wish. Luck may be a ladybird.

It reminded me of Frank Sinatra’s 1963 song Luck Be A Lady:

Luck, be a lady tonight

Luck, if you’ve ever been a lady to begin with

Luck, be a lady tonight.

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MARTINA NICOLLS

MARTINA NICOLLS is an Australian author and international human rights-based consultant in foreign aid evaluations and audits, education, psychosocial support, resilience, peace and stabilization, and communication, including script writing. She lives in Paris. Her latest books are: If Paris Were My Lover (2025), Tranquility Mapping (2025), Moon, Mood, and Mind Mapping Tracker (2025), and Innovations within Constraints Handbook (2025). She is the author of: The Paris Residences of James Joyce (2020), Similar But Different in the Animal Kingdom (2017), The Shortness of Life: A Mongolian Lament (2015), Liberia’s Deadest Ends (2012), Bardot’s Comet (2011), Kashmir on a Knife-Edge (2010) and The Sudan Curse (2009).

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