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

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7-Spot Ladybird (Coccinella septempunctata) from Palestine. Photo by Oz<br />

Rittner. http://www.nature-of-oz.com/coccinellidae.htm<br />

Their distinctive spots and attractive colours apparently make<br />

them unappealing to predators. The species can secrete a fluid<br />

from joints in their legs which gives them a foul taste. A<br />

threatened ladybird beetle may both play dead and secrete the<br />

unappetising substance to protect itself. The seven-spot ladybird<br />

synthesizes the toxic alkaloids, N-oxide coccinelline and its free<br />

base precoccinelline; depending on sex and diet, the spot size and<br />

coloration can provide some indication of how toxic the<br />

individual bug is to potential predators (Wikipedia).<br />

In Popular Culture<br />

Coccinellids are, and have been for very many years, a favourite<br />

insect of children. The insects had many regional names (now<br />

59

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