Sinuate Ladybird, 3:46pm - Hippodamia sinuata

concur

This one appears to be H. sinuata - more than H. quinquesignata or any of the other similar ones. From reading Gordon, it sounds like we really can't be 100% certain, but the elytra pattern doesn't match any of the other species figures, but it is a spitting image of Gordon's H. sinuata figure 612-l (the server is down, or I'd link it for you). Curiously, fig 612-l is supposed to be H. sinuata spuria - a subspecies Gordon has distributed more along the coastal statest and provinces, vice the more central H. s. crotichi. From the key, he splits H. sinuata from H. quinquesignata based on size - H. q.: "usually more than 5.5mm, form broad, robust", H. s.: "usually less than 5.5mm, form elongate, narrow". The form of yours seems to better favor the latter. Further, when H. convergens has similar degree of spots, it appears to also have a spot either side of the suture, just aft of the scutelar spot. H. sinuata never has a spot in this location.

hope that helps

PS: your other three from Sept 1 '08 also appear to be H. sinuata. H. convergens seems to have the lateral spot on the apical 1/3 more in-line or just slighly aft of the discal spot. Whereas on H. sinuata the lateral spot seems to always be completely aft of the discal spot.

… Tim Moyer, 19 August, 2009 - 8:03pm

Thank you for checking these

They are very common outside my house (but I only see the adults from August-October). I took them to be sinuata as they were the same size are the Parenthesis ladybirds and John Acorns says that "the Sinuate is almost the same size whereas the Convergent is much larger). I do actually have a specimen of one of these (in a dusty old box somewhere....) so I could probably get a 100% confirmation on them. They are certainly smaller than this glacialis I found yesterday:

By the way, do you know what the larvae of these ones look like? (Does it specify in Gordon's reference?) I have seen numerous different ones but am not sure what species they all are.

… James Bailey, 19 August, 2009 - 10:44pm

difficult larva

I don't know what the larva of this or most Hippodamia sp. look like, as Gordon's excellent '85 reference only deals with adults. The best larva ref I know of is Larval key to Genera and selected Species of North American Cocinellidae (Coleoptera)(1), which has many excellent illustrations, including a couple of different Hippodamia. The ones you're finding I would guess to be somewhat similar to H. convergens,

. Abigail Parker has been doing lots of excellent larval work recently for BugGuide ladybirds. You might try contacting her. In the mean time, why not image a few and post them! :)

… Tim Moyer, 21 August, 2009 - 8:44pm