wrong ladybird beetle determination??

for the information. The 'M' shaped marking on the pronotum had me suspect the MCLB. I thought that trait was specific for that exotic beetle, but not for any native LBs. I now know something about that beetle.:)

A bafflingly wide array of LB's can have the M/W marking on the pronotum, as I discovered early in my coccinellid adventures! Fortunately most of them are otherwise dissimilar to Harmonia axyridis; I don't have to worry about the pronotum when the beetle is gray like some forms of Olla v-nigrum, purple like aging Anatis spp., or striped like Mulsantina spp.

Adalia bipunctata can be almost as multicolored as the MCLB, including immaculate and melanic forms, and I am definitely not always 100% which is which from photos alone. However, the elytral pattern on the photos you mentioned is typical of A. bipunctata in that area, and I haven't seen anything quite like it on H. axyridis. I recently borrowed a pre-MCLB invasion British ladybird book [thanks, Eric!] that goes into great depth on the variations of A. bipunctata (the author cross-bred and kept track for generations!), so hopefully soon I'll have a much better grip on what elytral patterns are possible for which species!

...don't forget about the incredibly tricky form of Mulsantina picta with the featureless elytra:



I have some images of one of these guys from around my place and I'm awfully glad that I managed to get ventral shots showing the distinguishing markings, or I'd probably still be wondering if it was just another MCLB. :-)

Oy, Mulsantina, they like to masquerade. They're easy if you turn them over; otherwise, you can stare at a dorsal photo forever and not be certain what they are. They do tend to have more ornate pronotal markings than Harmonia axyridis - that is one heck of a fancy calligraphic "W" on Harsi's thumbnail, for instance. But Adalia bipunctata can have very elaborate "lettering" too. And then you have to consider the "O" or "C" shapes that can look quite a bit like Cycloneda...it's, um, fun if you're in the right frame of mind, otherwise just horribly frustrating.

In addition to flipping your beetles over, try to get a sense of their overall size and shape. Adalia and Mulsantina tend to be a more elongated oval shape, while Harmonia and Cycloneda are more rounded.

A. bipunctata is very common up here in Alberta, probably 2nd or 3rd in abundance when compared with the introduced 7-spotted and the native parenthesis (Hipppodamia parenthesis), at least in Calgary. We get a whole spectrum of color variation within this species. I have specimens in my collection ranging from the typical "2-spots" to those with multiple spots and transverse bands. The 10-spotted variant shown here is one of the more frequently encountered variants of this species in the west.
Speaking of the Asian lady beetle, Harmonia axyridis, I have yet to encounter this species in Alberta (hopefully not!). I have a few specimens collected from coastal British Columbia (Vancouver area) but it seems like this species has not successfully colonized the interior regions of Western Canada.