harlequin ladybird

noun

British

: multicolored asian lady beetle

Experts have cited two causes: a warm summer which brought a plentiful supply of aphids, their main food source, and the spread of a foreign variety, the harlequin ladybird, originally from Asia, which is larger, spottier and more orange than native ladybirds …

—Rebecca Lefort, Sunday Telegraph (London), 1 Nov. 2009

Word History

First Known Use

2004, in the meaning defined above

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