Book Fauna Palaestina 4 Year 2014 By Prof Dr Norman Ali Bassam Khalaf von Jaffa ISBN 978-9950-383-77-7

and modes of life. Many species are harmful to crops and stored
products, including food, while others are beneficial to mankind
through preying on agricultural pests or by recycling waste
products. Due to the hardness of their bodies and their
tremendous resistance, variety of shapes, range of size (from 1-160
mm) and amazing colours, the beetles are a favourite group for
many amateur entomologists and collectors (Boeliem, 2008). As a
result of their habitat destruction, several species in Palestine have
become extinct, such as some of the large water beetles; while
others are endangered.
The Coccinellidae are a family of small beetles, ranging from 1 to
10 mm (0.04 to 0.4 inches). They are commonly yellow, orange, or
scarlet with small black spots on their wing covers, with black
legs, heads and antennae. Such colour patterns vary greatly,
however; for example, a minority of species, such as Vibidia
duodecimguttata, a twelve-spotted species, have whitish spots on a
brown background. Coccinellids are found worldwide, with over
5,000 species described (Wikipedia). About 70 species of ladybird
beetles (Coccinellidae) are known in Palestine, and many of them
help to regulate pest populations. Both in Palestine and abroad,
some of the species are employed for biological control of pests.
At the end of spring the beetles migrate to mountain tops, such as
Mount Hermon (Jabal Al Shaykh) and Mount Meron (Jabal Al
Jarmaq), where they mass together. At the beginning of the
following spring they migrate back to the low-lying areas - a
phenomenon that has not yet been fully studied (Boeliem, 2008).
Coccinellidae are known colloquially as ladybirds (in Britain,
Ireland and the Commonwealth), ladybugs (in North America)
or lady cows, among other names. When they need to use a
common name, entomologists widely prefer the names ladybird
beetles or lady beetles as these insects are not true bugs
(Wikipedia).
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