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Species Brachiacantha tau - T-marked Lady Beetle

Back and orange beetle - Brachiacantha tau Back and orange beetle - Brachiacantha tau Brachiacantha tau LeConte - Brachiacantha tau Brachiacantha tau LeConte - Brachiacantha tau Brachiacantha tau LeConte - Brachiacantha tau Brachiacantha tau LeConte - Brachiacantha tau Beetle - Brachiacantha tau - male Brachiacantha tau
Classification
Kingdom Animalia (Animals)
Phylum Arthropoda (Arthropods)
Subphylum Hexapoda (Hexapods)
Class Insecta (Insects)
Order Coleoptera (Beetles)
Suborder Polyphaga
No Taxon (Series Cucujiformia)
Superfamily Coccinelloidea
No Taxon (Coccinellid group)
Family Coccinellidae (Lady Beetles)
Subfamily Scymninae
Genus Brachiacantha (Spurleg Lady Beetles)
Species tau (T-marked Lady Beetle)
Explanation of Names
Brachiacantha tau LeConte 1859
The Greek letter Tau is the same as our letter "T", which is a good description of the black markings on this species
Size
Length 4.40 to 5.50 mm
Width 3.0 to 3.80 mm. (1)
Identification
Color pattern on elytron variable from mostly yellow or orange in northern specimens, to a pattern resembling that of B. decora in southern specimens Gordon's figures (1)
See discussion here:
Range
Rocky Mtn and Great Plains states - Map (stars)(1)(BG data)
Remarks
Type locality: Fort Riley, Kansas (1)
See Also
Hyperaspis nigrosuturalis Blatchley
- FL endemic
Det. M. A. Quinn, 2015
Print References
LeConte, J.L. 1859. The Coleoptera of Kansas and eastern New Mexico. Smithsonian Contributions to Knowledge 11(6): 1-58. (p.28)
Fauske, G.M., P.P. Tinerella, and D.A. Rider. 2003. A list of the lady beetles (Coleoptera: Coccinellidae) of North Dakota with new records from North Dakota and Minnesota. Journal of the Kansas Entomological Society 76: 38-46.
Internet References
Type - MCZ, Harvard
Works Cited
1.The Coccinellidae (Coleoptera) of America North of Mexico
Robert D. Gordon. 1985. Journal of the New York Entomological Society, Vol. 93, No. 1.