Seven-spotted Ladybug

Description:

"An adult seven-spot ladybird may reach a body length of 7.6–10.0 mm (0.3–0.4 in). Their distinctive spots and attractive colours are meant to make them unappealing to predators. The species can secrete a fluid from joints in their legs which gives them a foul taste. A threatened ladybug may both play dead and secrete the unappetising substance to protect itself. The seven-spot ladybird synthesizes the toxic alkaloids, N-oxide coccinelline and its free base precoccinelline; depending on sex and diet, the spot size and coloration can provide some indication of how toxic the individual bug is to potential predators." ~ wiki

Habitat:

spotted on a caper bush in a coastal desert wadi

Notes:

The Jebeleyya Bedouin call these beetles 'uwaynat umm sulayman' (eye of Sulayman's mother).