ladybug, ladybug, fly away home

A children's rhyme said as a chant to shoo away the ladybug beetle. The full rhyme goes "ladybug, ladybug, fly away home, your house is on fire and your children will burn," an allusion to the practice of farmers burning their fields after the harvest. In British English, "ladybird" is typically used instead of "ladybug." A: "Look! A ladybug landed on your arm." B: "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.