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Home » Guide » Arthropods (Arthropoda) » Hexapods (Hexapoda) » Insects (Insecta) » Beetles (Coleoptera) » Polyphaga » Series Cucujiformia » Coccinelloidea » Coccinellid group » Lady Beetles (Coccinellidae) » Scymninae » Spurleg Lady Beetles (Brachiacantha) » Brachiacantha quadripunctata

Species Brachiacantha quadripunctata

Classification · Explanation of Names · Numbers · Identification · Range · Internet References · Works Cited

black and red Lady Bird Beetle - Brachiacantha quadripunctata - female

Four-Spotted Lady Beetle - Brachiacantha quadripunctata - male

Lady Beetle - Brachiacantha quadripunctata

Lady Beetle - Brachiacantha quadripunctata - female

Brachiacantha quadripunctata ? - Brachiacantha quadripunctata - female

Is this a 4 Spot Sap Beetle ? - Brachiacantha quadripunctata

Brachiacantha quadripunctata? - Brachiacantha quadripunctata

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 quadripunctata (Brachiacantha quadripunctata)

Explanation of Names

Brachiacantha quadripunctata Melsheimer, 1847

quadripunctata (L). "four-pointed", referring to the 4 elytral spots

Numbers

Two subspecies:

Brachiacantha quadripunctata quadripunctata

Brachiacantha quadripunctata flavifrons

Identification

Gordon's figures (1)

Both subspecies:

Black elytra (wing covers) with red spots at base, almost touching pronotum, and rear.

Males with additional humeral spots (on the side, near the front), which may join the basal spots to form a large red patch.

Female with black head and pronotum; male with white head and black pronotum with white border.

B. quadripunctata flavifrons:

Both sexes usually with additional marginal spot (on the side at midpoint of body)(1)

Range

e. US - Map (1)

B. quadripunctata quadripunctata: Massachusetts and New York to Virginia and Tennessee, west to Iowa and Kansas.

B. quadripunctata flavifrons: North Carolina to Florida, west to Alabama.

Ranges do not overlap.

Internet References

Proceedings of the Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia, v.3, p.178 - Melsheimer's original description

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.

Contributed by Will Chatfield-Taylor on 16 December, 2007 - 8:51am
Additional contributions by Joyce Gross, Chuck Entz, Mike Quinn, Abigail Parker
Last updated 6 June, 2023 - 9:54am

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