Species Psyllobora vigintimaculata - Twenty-Spotted Lady Beetle

Classification · Other Common Names · Explanation of Names · Numbers · Size · Range · Habitat · Food · Internet References · Works Cited

Small lady beetle - Psyllobora vigintimaculata

Psyllabora vigintimaculata w/ hitchhikers - Psyllobora vigintimaculata

Very small ladybug - Psyllobora vigintimaculata

tiny beetle - Psyllobora vigintimaculata

Twenty-spotted ladybird - Psyllobora vigintimaculata

20-spotted Ladybird, 12:53pm - Psyllobora vigintimaculata

Beetle ID Request - Psyllobora vigintimaculata

Classification

Kingdom Animalia (Animals)

Phylum Arthropoda (Arthropods)

Class Insecta (Insects)

Order Coleoptera (Beetles)

Suborder Polyphaga (Water, Rove, Scarab, Longhorn, Leaf and Snout Beetles)

Superfamily Cucujoidea (Flower, Flat Bark and Ladybird Beetles)

Family Coccinellidae (Lady Beetles)

Subfamily Coccinellinae

Genus Psyllobora (Fungus-eating Lady Beetles)

Species vigintimaculata (Twenty-Spotted Lady Beetle)

Other Common Names

Twenty-Spotted Ladybird Beetle

Twenty-Spotted Ladybug

Wee-Tiny Ladybug

Explanation of Names

vigintimaculata is Latin for "20-spotted"

Numbers

One of six Nearctic species in the genus.

Size

Small! Length 2 to 2.5 mm.

Range

University of Guelph site gives the range as "Labrador to Alaska and south to Mexico" and notes that this species is the only Psyllobora found in northeastern North America.

Habitat

"In early Spring this species occurs in numbers about the base of skunk cabbage and on leaves of various shrubs."(1)

Food

Unlike most ladybugs, these and related species feed on fungus (mostly mildew on leaf surfaces).

Internet References

Species page on University of Guelph website

Works Cited

1.	A Manual of Common Beetles of Eastern North America By Dillon, Elizabeth S., and Dillon, Lawrence

Contributed by Stephen Cresswell on 24 December, 2005 - 6:27am
Additional contributions by Chuck Entz, Abigail Parker
Last updated 8 October, 2009 - 11:08am

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