ladybug ladybug, fly away home

A chant to send a ladybug on its way. The ladybug (or ladybird) beetle is helpful to farmers by reducing the number of harmful larvae and insects on crops. In certain parts of the English-speaking world, farmers chanted right before they burned their fields after harvest, “Ladybug ladybug, fly away home / Your house is on fire, your children alone [or your children are gone].” Some people still recite the verse when a ladybug lands on them and before gently flicking the insect off them, because swatting a ladybug is considered very bad luck.