Ladybug Pictures

Ladybird Beetles (Coccinellidae), lady beetles or ladybugs, as they are also commonly know, are a family of popular beetles in the larger beetle order, Coleoptera.

Their popularity can be credited to both their bright colors and their helpfulness. Ladybugs are considered beneficial insects because their diet consists of garden pests such as aphids and mites.

Attesting to their popularity, six states, Delaware, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New York, Ohio, Tennessee, have designated the ladybug as the official state insect or official state bug.

Their utility to humans translated into large importations of non-native species for agriculture purposes.

In turn, changing land use and the large non-native species population began to place pressure on native ladybug species. The Nine Spotted Lady Beetle (Coccinella novemnotata), for example, New York's state insect, use to be one of the most common ladybugs in the Northeast United States. Finding one today in New York, or any place in the Northeast is a very challenging task.

Entomologists are currently studying the issue of disappearing ladybug species in the hopes of reviving some of the populations.

Most, but not all of the close to five hundred North American ladybug species, have the traditional ladybug look, orange to red color wings that are covered with dark spots.

Cycloneda, top picture, a small genus of spotless lady beetles, tend to buck that general physical trend.

The Polished Lady Beetle (Cycloneda munda), native to the East, and the Spotless Lady Beetle (Cycloneda sanguinea), native to the West, account for the bulk of the population.

A handful of other genera with spotless species from Texas through the Western United States also appear in gardens. Proper species identification requires matching the facial pattern to the spotless wings.

The second most common species appearance, black wings with orange to red spots, reverses the original color pattern.

North America lists account for approximately two dozen Hyperaspis species.

Their predominantly black bodies come covered with bright red, yellow or orange patterns. Picture two shows Hyperaspis postica, a black elytra species native to the West Coast.

At first glance, it might be mistaken for the twice-stabbed lady beetle (Chilocorus cacti), another black elytra species with two red spots. However, the spots on Chilocorus cacti tend to be larger and closer to the middle of the body.

The Anatis genus of Lady Beetles can often be recognized by their unusually distinct spots and facial markings.

The eye-spotted species, for example, have distinct eye rings around their spots. The fifteen-spotted species come in red and white wing colors.

Picture three shows Anatis rathvoni, or Rathvon's Lady Beetle, showing some partial eye rings around the wing spots.

With so many spotted lady beetles, the name Spotted Lady Beetle (Coleomegilla maculata) can come across as meaningless.

Some times is is called a twelve-spotted lady beetle or pink lady beetle, because it's color can someitmes appear pinkish.

Coleomegilla maculata is a very common Eastern species that even finds room to fly in the Southwest.

The large number of ladybug species also brings with it a naming problem. So many ladybugs, so few common names.

Wing color, wing patterns patterns and facial patterns often explain common names for specific species. In all cases they also serve as basic ladybug field identification clues.

The links in the box point to further information and pictures of a sample of ladybug species.

© 2005-2011 Patricia A. Michaels