{"id":2923,"date":"2017-03-06T23:51:14","date_gmt":"2017-03-06T12:51:14","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/gosciencekids.com\/?p=2923"},"modified":"2020-05-22T13:44:22","modified_gmt":"2020-05-22T03:44:22","slug":"ladybird-paper-plate-craft","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/gosciencekids.com\/ladybird-paper-plate-craft\/","title":{"rendered":"Anatomy of a ladybird craft – with movable elytra and hidden wings!"},"content":{"rendered":"

How to make a paper plate ladybird (or ladybug) craft, with rotating elytra and hidden wings underneath! Fun biology \/ nature science project<\/a> for kids.
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\"Anatomy<\/p>\n

Did you see the paper plate ladybird life cycle craft that I shared last week? (If not, you can check it out here<\/a>). My daughter and I made it to celebrate the loveliness of ladybirds that appear in our backyard each spring and summer. (Loveliness is the collective noun for a group of ladybirds – isn’t that the coolest thing ever!!)<\/p>\n

(In case you’re wondering, ladybird, ladybug and lady beetle are all the same animal – they are just called different things in different countries. Technically they are called coccinellids, but I’ve never heard anyone actually call them that. We call them ladybirds here in Australia…)<\/em><\/p>\n

Anyway back to our story. Shortly afterwards, my daughter found another species of ladybird at a nearby park!! This one was orange and black, and had v shaped markings on it’s back (which, as we’ve since discovered, is a type of ladybird called a Transverse Ladybird). She brought it home to show me.<\/p>\n

\"Orange<\/p>\n

\"Tiny<\/p>\n

\"Transverse<\/p>\n

And so, of course, this got us thinking about different types of ladybirds, the anatomy of ladybirds, what each species eats, where they live, etc.<\/p>\n

Here’s a fantastic website that delves into basic ladybird anatomy<\/a>. Did you know that a ladybird’s ‘shell’ is actually called the elytra, and underneath the elytra, there is a hidden set of wings?<\/p>\n

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We decided to make a ladybird craft, for three different species of ladybirds:<\/p>\n