Harmonia axyridis ♂

Mating

Harmonia axyridis ♀

Twice-stabbed ladybird
Chilocorus stigma

Ladybird Beetle Larva

Spotless Ladybug
Cycloneda munda

Ladybugs, also called lady beetles or ladybird beetles, are actually beetles in the Coleoptera family Coccinellidae. As insects go, they are a very beneficial group, being natural enemies of many insects, especially aphids and other critters that damage plants by feeding on their sap. A single ladybug can consume vast quantities of aphids in its lifetime, perhaps as many as 5,000 or more. There is a brisk business in commercial ladybugs for aphid control, and some of the species found here in North America are actually "invasives" brought from Europe or Asia for such purpose.

Coccinella septempunctata, the seven-spotted ladybug, sometimes called ‘C-7', is a medium-sized, orange beetle with seven black spots. It is a European species that was introduced into the US to aid in managing some aphid pests. Harmonia axyridis, the Multicolored Asian lady beetle, was introduced to North America many times, finally taking hold and becoming established in the 1980's. This invasive has become far and away the most numerous of the Coccinellids here in the midwest, and they are becoming one of the most annoying insect pests, invading homes to overwinter, much as the box elder bug.

I was first bitten by Harmonia in about1993. At first I didn't believe it, even after I swatted one that fell to the ground. Hm. This was new. It startles you more than it hurts, well, maybe it does hurt. It's annoying as hell but not like being stung a good one by a wasp or yellowjacket. I'm not sure, but I don't think a ladybug bite elicits the hyper/histamine/anaphylactic crapola, but don't take my word for it. Get yourself to the ER if you've difficulty breathing for any reason.

 

Minuscule - Ladybug - Amazing videos are here This little animated video is just charming and amazing. Hurray for the ladybug!

I first noticed Harmonia getting into houses where I lived in the mid-1990's. They would show up on sunny outside walls during October, congregating in the warmth to muster their energy to find a place to spend the winter, hopefully heated: just like your living room. Just like the box elder bug. Yow, and they get in through teensy cracks, just like the box elder bug. Then I found a huge congregation of hundreds of them in my father's garden shed at Oregon, Illinois.

Adult ladybugs have convex, hemispherical shaped elytra (the hardened wings used to cover the soft flying wings underneath) that can be yellow, pink, orange, red, or black, and usually are marked with distinct spots. This is a type of warning coloration (aposematic coloring), thought to discourage predators. Lady beetles also have another defense: an odorous, noxious fluid that seeps out of their leg joints when the insects are disturbed. I can truthfully say, I've been fooling with ladybugs since I was a child, but I've never noticed such a thing. It must be that the quantity of such fluid is so small as to affect only small creatures.

Ladybugs, both adults and larvae, are well-known primarily as predators of aphids (plant lice), but they prey also on many other pests such as soft-scale insects, mealybugs, spider mites and eggs of the Colorado Potato Beetle and European Corn Borer. A few feed on plant and pollen mildews. One larva will eat about 400 medium-size aphids during its development to the pupal stage. An adult will eat about 300 medium-size aphids before it lays eggs. About three to ten aphids are eaten for each egg the beetle lays. More than 5,000 aphids may be eaten by a single adult in its lifetime. The lady beetle's huge appetite and reproductive capacity often allow it to rapidly clean out its prey.