lady beetles

---, Pests & Pathogens

I’ve found a bunch of lady beetles around recently. I thought ladybugs (actually a beetle, not a bug) were only the red and black spotted ones. Not true. There are about 5,000 species of these beetles. Many are native to the US and many have been introduced from Europe or Asia, generally to control aphids and other food crop pests.Most lady beetle are voracious eaters of food crop pests.

The two I found today are the Fourteen-spotted ladybug (Propylea quatuordecimpunctata) picture on the right , and the Eye-spotted Lady Beetle (Anatis mali) picture on the left.

A great guide to figure out the variety of lady beetle you have found is here at Discover Life.

The Fourteen-spotted ladybug is an introduced species. The Eye-spotted Lady Beetle is a native to the eastern US and Canada.

The presence of ladybugs means aphids are here! And, yes, I’ve been seeing them. And ladybugs and aphids means pest bug season. I have lots: flea beetles, cucumber beetles, potato beetles, cabbage butterflies. And slugs, I have lots of slugs (I suppose they are not a bug).

Maybe I’ll find a nice red ladybug to photograph and add here!

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