Animals that start with L

The ladybug, or ladybird, is a very small beetle that eats aphids. As aphids are pests, it is seen as a very good thing to have ladybugs in your garden. Ladybugs are usually red, orange or yellow with black spots.

Leeches are in the same family as earthworms. Not all leeches are bloodsuckers, but the ones people are most familiar with are. They grow to around 2-5cm long but some species reach 30cm. Leeches live in damp, swampy areas. Leeches have adapted one end of them into a sucker, so they can attach to a host. They inject anaesthetic in as they bite, so the host cannot feel them, and then an anti-clotting agent so the host's blood flows freely. Leeches stay stuck to their host until they are full, then they drop off.

Lemurs are a kind of monkey that only lives on Madagascar. They live mainly in trees and come out at night time to eat fruit, flowers, leaves, insects and small animals.

A lerp is a protective cover made by the larvae of some kinds of insects. Lerps are made from sugary liquid that the larvae make. Once it is dry, it is hard and crystalline.

Lipizzaners, or Lipizzans, are a breed of white horse that is today used and bred at the Spanish Riding School in Vienna as a performing horse. Lipizzaners are trained over many years to perform complicated moves.