Superfamily Coccinelloidea

Short but very informational article on this lady beetle's life cycle and prey. Includes descriptions of all larval instars, dorsal illustrations of first and fourth instars, and illustration of fourth instar head.

Full citation, with entire title:

Akbar, W., C. Carlton, and T. E. Reagan. "Life Cycle and Larval Morphology of Diomus terminatus (Coleoptera: Coccinellidae) and Its Potential as a Biological Control Agent of Melanaphis sacchari (Hemiptera: Aphididae)." Annals of the Entomological Society of America 102(1): 96-103 (2009).

Link goes to a PDF file, which can be viewed in the free Adobe Acrobat program.

[cite:376993]
Excellent photos of 10 spp. representing 9 genera and 6 subfamilies -- good for identifying all common northeastern endomychids.

[cite:918001

http://www.lostladybug.org

List of Species Treated

Welcome to the Lost Ladybug Project
Across North America ladybug species composition is changing. Over the past twenty years native ladybugs that were once very common have become extremely rare. During this same time ladybugs from other parts of the world have greatly increased both their numbers and range. This is happening very quickly and we don’t know how, or why, or what impact it will have on ladybug diversity or the role that ladybugs play in keeping plant-feeding insect populations low. We're asking you to join us in finding out where all the ladybugs have gone so we can try to prevent more native species from becoming so rare.

[cite:747404]
Full citation: Lawrence J.F., Hastings A.M., Dallwitz M.J., Paine T.A., Zurcher E.J. 1995 onwards. Elateriformia (Coleoptera) larvae: descriptions, illustrations, identification, and information retrieval for families and subfamilies. Version: 9th October 2005.