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Ladybugs mate and so do snakes
![[© Scott Camazine, Pennsylvania State U ; Corel] Upper: Ladybird beetle. Lower: Ceticia anaconda](ladybug-snake.jpg) Q: Do lady bugs have internal or external fertilization? Also what about snakes? -Christine D.,
Harker Heights, Texas
A: Ladybugs and snakes both fertilize their eggs internally; they mate. The hereditary material of the two
sex cells (sperm and egg) fuses inside the female.
[© Scott Camazine, Pennsylvania State U ; Corel] Both mate. Upper: Ladybird beetle. Lower: Ceticia
anaconda
Overwintering ladybugs mate in the spring. The female lays a batch of five to 50 light yellow, long oval
fertilized eggs along the underside of leaves where aphids hang out. She lays several batches, totaling about
150 eggs.
Snakes mate also in the spring immediately after they come out of hibernation when females and males
abound in the same place and females are receptive. After mating, the male's sperm may quickly swim up
her oviducts and fertilize eggs the female has just released. Sometimes, though, the female stores the sperm
and lets them go later to fertilize the eggs.
(Answered by April Holladay, science correspondent, January 2, 2002)
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