lady bird beetle larva - Harmonia axyridis

Good pic of 3rd instar

I'm working on a Guide article on H. axyridis larvae and the 3rd instar is really not photographed very often! Lots of egg hatches and 4th instars and pupae, but the 2nd and 3rd instars don't turn up on the Guide very much.

I'd like to use your image in the article, even though it's a bit blurry - the color pattern is perfect.

How did it go with all your larvae? Did you keep, release, or destroy the adults?

… Abigail M. Parker, 19 July, 2009 - 1:33pm

Moved

Moved from Multicolored Asian Lady Beetle.

… Domingo Zungri, 5 July, 2009 - 8:13am

and aphids...

Munching on aphids! Good girl!

… GValHart, 24 June, 2009 - 10:34am

Asian ladybug

Apparently the branched spines are distinctive.

… John F. Carr, 24 June, 2009 - 10:06am

yes, double-branched spines unique

At least in North America, only H. axyridis has the double-branched tips of the abdominal tubercules. Not even the other Harmonia species we sometimes have here, H. dimidiata, has them.

They're evident (under magnification) within 24 hours of egg hatch, making H. axyridis identifiable to species in its earliest instar.

… Abigail M. Parker, 18 July, 2009 - 10:57am