Identification, Images, & Information
For Insects, Spiders & Their Kin
For the United States & Canada
Clickable Guide
Moths Butterflies Flies Caterpillars Flies Dragonflies Flies Mantids Cockroaches Bees and Wasps Walkingsticks Earwigs Ants Termites Hoppers and Kin Hoppers and Kin Beetles True Bugs Fleas Grasshoppers and Kin Ticks Spiders Scorpions Centipedes Millipedes

Calendar

TaxonomyBrowseInfoImagesLinksBooksData
Photo#360133
ID for Lady Beetle in CA? - Axion plagiatum

ID for Lady Beetle in CA? - Axion plagiatum
Webb Canyon, ~2000 ft. elevation, Los Angeles County, California, USA
July 22, 2009
So sorry for the poor quality of these pics -- the sun had already set and the light level was too minimal to capture much in the way of details. I found this lady beetle resting on a Eucalyptus leaf and it was quite sedentary at the time, but may have been attracted there earlier by the sugary lerps (white structure shown in photo) of the pysllids, Glycaspis brimblecombei. Also shown are some lacewing eggs attached to the side of the lerp.

I think there are essentially three possibilities for likely species in my area, but without any ventral shots, nor clear images of the pronotum and facial markings, I don't know if it will be possible to say which one for certain. It looks somewhat close to this Harmonia axyridis color form, but I'm not sure if the pronotum is ever entirely black as it is on my specimen. I would have the same concern when it comes to considering Olla v-nigrum. Which leaves the last candidate -- Calvia quatuordecimguttata, which at least seems to have some representative images showing greatly reduced or absent pronotal markings (see link for example). [EDIT: I completely forgot to mention Chilocorus -- see additional comments below.] I welcome any and all comments and speculations!

Images of this individual: tag all
ID for Lady Beetle in CA? - Axion plagiatum ID for Lady Beetle in CA? - Axion plagiatum

Moved

This is Axion plagiatum
The shape of the beetle as well as the markings are not like Chilocorus.

 
What a pleasant surprise!
Thank you so much for your careful review, James. Since I live in WA now where there's no chance of seeing this species, it's all the more lovely to be able to add it to my old CA list.

Moved
Moved from Lady Beetles.

looks like
a Chilocorus or Exochomus sp.

 
agreed; lean toward Chilocorus
The helmet-shaped (explanate) profile is distinctive, though not limited to the Chilocorinae; the short, stubby antennae have me leaning towards Chilocorus. I'd expect Axion plagiatum to be more shield-shaped from above, tapering toward the rear, not as round as this beetle.

There's a perplexing number of black-with-two-red-spots Chilocorus spp. on the West Coast, and even flipping them over doesn't help sometimes! I can tell you it's not C. kuwanae, at least: the spots are large, round, and before the midline of the body.

 
Chilocorus
I can't believe I forgot to include that genus -- I had the page open and everything... just completely slipped my mind.

So, I guess this one doesn't help us out any in our hunt for the identity of the unknown larva, as I gather Chilocorus larvae are all quite spiky and otherwise differently-shaped, yes?

 
yup, spiky
All the larvae in subfamily Chilocorinae are spiky, with long multi-branched spines (scoli). Our unknown is probably in Coccinellinae, just possibly in Coccidulinae.

 
Duh!
Thank you so much, Blaine! I completely forgot to include Chilocorus on my list of candidates. Here's an example of a very similar-looking specimen from Ron H. who lives in a neighboring area of CA:



Size was more akin to the common Hippodamia or Coccinella species, than the diminutive proportions I'm used to seeing on my local Exochomus population, but I will investigate that a bit further too. Again, thanks!

 
Or Axion
That's what Cindy's larvae were, finally, ID'd as (it took quite a few go-rounds from several people, including a big ol' mistake from me). I know I just said Axion plagiatum is usually more shield-shaped than Chilocorus, but it's not a hard-and-fast rule. Just one of those things to take into consideration when you can't flip the critter over and don't know what kind of larva it came from.

Axion, Exochomus, and Chilocorus are all in subfamily Chilocorinae, we can certainly move this beetle there.

 
I definately
support Chilocorus over Axion, too. Already moved it to Chilocorus :)

Comment viewing options
Select your preferred way to display the comments and click 'Save settings' to activate your changes.