ˈ ̷ ̷ ̷ ̷ˌ ̷ ̷ noun
Etymology: after Our Lady, the Virgin Mary
: any of the small more or less hemispherical often brightly colored beetles that constitute the family Coccinellidae, are distributed throughout temperate and tropical regions, and with the exception of a few herbivorous forms feed in both larval and adult stages upon small insects and the eggs of larger ones — see vedalia
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