Are ladybirds with black bodies and red spots dangerous??
Red and black are colours used to warn predators off, but they don’t usually mean that something’s dangerous. (Scorpions and rattlesnakes are venomous, but also camouflaged in the colours they live near. A deadly ability can also be used for hunting, so colours aren’t beneficial) The colours (including black & yellow, red and white, and black & white) of a ladybird mostly communicate to birds (their main predator) that it tastes horrible. Many small animals use this strategy; if you make yourself obvious, but taste bad, a bird will soon learn that it’s not worth eating you. Every bird needs to eat somebody that looks like you, to find this out, but statistically, it’s more likely to be somebody else.
