Are there any types of ladybugs that are poisonous?

Ladybirds (sometimes known as Ladybugs) are a family of small rounded, brightly coloured beetles. The scientific name for the family is Coccinellidae.

In nature most predators associate bright colours (especially orange and black or yellow and black) with poison and other unpleasant properties, and in fact most coccinellids are poisonous to smaller predators such as lizards and small birds and other insects.

The toxin is in the blood of the ladybird but as a defense mechanism it can be squirted out of pores in the exo-skeleton - particularly through joints in the legs. The strength of the toxin can vary with the age of the ladybird, the diet that it eats and the species.

A human would have to eat at least several hundred before feeling any effects other than a bad taste.