Species Coleomegilla maculata - Spotted Lady Beetle

Pink Spotted Lady Beetle

Twelve-spotted Lady Beetle

described in 1775 by De Geer, who originally placed it in genus Coccinella

the only species in this genus in North America listed at nearctica.com

body length of adult 5-6 mm

larva to 9 mm

Found throughout most of New York, southern Ontario, and southern New England and across the south to the mid-western states. It can be very common.

Robert Gordon (1) distinguishes 3 subspecies, with some relatively slight variations in markings:

1) The most widespread subspecies, C. m. lengi Timberlake, occurs throughout the eastern states (except northern New England, and Florida) and west to the great plains.

2) C. m. fuscilabris (Mulsant) occurs in Florida and along the coasts, west to Louisiana, and north to Myrtle Beach, South Carolina.

3) C. m. strenua (Casey) occurs along the Mexican border from Texas to California (and presumably south into Mexico).

[the above text copied from former comment by Tim Moyer]

Adults and larvae are important aphid predators but also prey on mites, insect eggs, and small larvae. Unlike most lady beetles, plant pollen may constitute up to 50% of the diet. Reported prey include pea, green peach, melon (cotton), cabbage, and potato aphids and greenbug; eggs of European corn borer, imported cabbageworm, fall webworm, and corn earworm; asparagus beetle, Mexican bean beetle, and Colorado potato beetle eggs and larvae.

Adults overwinter in large aggregations beneath leaf litter and stones along hedgerows or in protected sites along crop borders, especially those of fields planted to corn in the previous season. They emerge from early to mid-spring and disperse, often by walking along the ground, to seek prey and egg laying sites in nearby crops.

Female lady beetles may lay from 200 to more than 1,000 eggs over a one to three month period commencing in spring or early summer. Eggs are usually deposited near prey such as aphids, often in small clusters in protected sites on leaves and stems. Larvae grow from about 1 mm to 9 mm in length and may wander up to 12 m in search of prey. The larva attaches itself by the abdomen to a leaf or other surface to pupate. The pupal stage may last from 3 to 12 days depending on temperature.

Eggs; newborns; larval instars 1, 2, 3, 4, prepupa (end of instar 4); pupa; adult.

Because pollen is an essential component of the diet of Coleomegilla, the planting or preservation of refuges, or interplantings, of early-flowering species with a high pollen load may be beneficial especially to provide a food source during late spring before the build up of aphids. Flowering dandelions, for example, have been recorded as a heavily used pollen source for dispersing adults in late spring potato fields.

Tolerance to some pesticides at recommended application rates is likely. Overwintering adults may be less susceptible than active adults and larvae.

Naemia seriata - Range limited to Atlantic and Gulf Coasts and U.S. Southwest. Color usually yellow or orange; pronotum usually with one large black spot; rear of body usually with one large apical suture spot. Eastern subspecies with solid black head.

However, N. seriata is sometimes red, sometimes with two pronotal spots, sometimes with two apical spots rather than one apical suture spot, and head of Western subspecies has pale triangular marking. Rely on a combination of features, not a single field mark, to separate N. seriata from C. maculata.

Gordon, 1985, especially pp. 696-702, figures 573-577.(1)

Cornell University illustrated species account

University of Minnesota live images of all stages

author, date, and original genus (nearctica.com)