Ladybug, Ladybug fly away home.
Your house is on fire and your children are gone.

There are variations on this song by region and country. In Europe the Ladybug is believed to bring specific benefits: Central Europeans --and similarly some Swedes--believe that if a Ladybug crawls across a maiden's hand she would soon be married; Germans believe that the Ladybug is generally good luck but a traditional belief is that if there are less than seven spots you are guaranteed a good harvest; in England each spot means a lucky month to come; in French vineyards Ladybugs bring good weather; and, similarly, in Austria a Ladybug is a sign of good weather. Others believe in the Ladybug, too: its name in Iran mean "Good News"; and Canadians say that you should make a wish and let the Ladybug fly away--the direction it flies too shows the direction from which your wish will come.

Most likely the Ladybug earned a favorable reputation from its usefulness in a garden. Ladybugs are a very beneficial insect that eat all kinds of bad bugs like aphids. Live Ladybugs can be ordered for gardens for this purpose. Accordingly, many of the Ladybug's good luck propensities may have been extrapolated from its desirability to farmers and, therefore, food and prosperity. Others point out the Ladybug's similarity in shape to the Scarab Beetle of ancient Egyptian and believe that the Ladybug is the European inheritor of the Scarab's good luck powers. Some believe that the red color represents the ancient belief in the good luck power of fire. Finally, some believe the Ladybug represented a goddess in pre-Christian Europe and that the name Ladybug now represents the Virgin Mary and the reference to fire in the nursery rhyme is a reference to the hell the Ladybug protects you from.

Today, there are many representations of the Ladybug and all are considered good luck.