Orange coccinellid climbing on upper stem of flowering Helianthus annuus, small black spots on each elytron along with one transverse black bar. Collected. Ruderal floodplain community with Kochia scoparia, Chenopodium simplex, Chenopodium berlandieri, Helianthus annuus, and Cleome serrulata. Midday to early afternoon, sunny, 66 F to 73 F, gentle to fresh W breeze, good air quality.

Elevation ca 4000 feet. Disturbed riparian corridor on stream restoration site within a patchwork of native and non-native grassland.

Hippodamia quinquesignata? Used the Hippodamia key in Gordon 1985 and got to the group of H. quinquesignata, caseyi, glacialis, and moesta. Of these, this looks most like quinquesignata, with the posterolateral corners of the pronotum completely black.

This was one of several coccinellids observed here this fall on upper stems of Helianthus annuus. Michaud & Qureshi 2006 (1) report H. convergens visiting sunflowers in the dry part of the summer to obtain moisture and possibly nutrition from sap, so presumably that may have been what was happening here.