瓢虫为鞘翅目瓢虫科（学名：Coccinellidae）圆形突起的甲虫的通称，是体色鲜艳的小型昆虫，常具红、黑或黄色斑点。别称为胖小、红娘、花大姐、金龟、金龟子（但金龟子实际上是指另一种甲虫），甚至因为某些种其分泌物带有臭味而俗称为臭龟子（但这也是混称）。

英文名ladybirds（又称ladybug）里的「lady」一般被认为是暗指在天主教信仰中的圣母玛利亚。全世界有超过5,000种以上的瓢虫，其中450种以上栖息于北美洲。瓢虫的成虫体长约数mm至1cm程度，体型呈半圆球状，脚与触角短小。体色有黑、赤、橙、黄、褐色等艳丽的色彩，身体上的图样也会因为种类的不同而多变。

Coccinellidae (/ˌkɒksɪˈnɛlɪdaɪ/) is a widespread family of small beetles ranging from 0.8 to 18 mm (0.0315 to 0.708 inches). They are commonly yellow, orange, or red with small black spots on their wing covers, with black legs, heads and antennae. However such colour patterns vary greatly. For example, a minority of species, such as Vibidia duodecimguttata, a twelve-spotted species, have whitish spots on a brown background. Coccinellids are found worldwide, with over 6,000 species described.