Is this Chilocorus bipustulatus? - Chilocorus bipustulatus

Moved

… Anita Gould, 28 August, 2009 - 10:33pm

Moved

Moved from Flower, Flat Bark and Ladybird Beetles.

… Anita Gould, 28 August, 2009 - 8:58pm

if it isn't I don't know what it is...

A non-native species that's been imported for biological control once can be introduced in another location too - perhaps someone's trying to control scale insects nearby and this one got loose. It also could have hitched a ride either from California or overseas (native to Middle East, introduced in Europe and Asia), especially if there's a port or large train/truck depot or food/produce center near you.

Try moving this to the Coccinellidae page, there are a few people who love to wrestle with lady beetle IDs. And unlike me, some of them have formal training or are actively studying the family.

(I just rear and photograph what I find in the city...sigh, I wish I could find something as rare and beautiful as this! I was excited to get C. kuwanae in the Guide for Pennsylvania, but you totally rocked the East Coast Chilocorus gig. Wow!)

ADDED, 8/28: I see you're not far from the Port of New York and all its international shipping. Definitely a place that a beetle could hitch a ride to!

… Abigail Parker, 27 August, 2009 - 8:43pm

Done!

Thanks very much, Abigail. Pure luck -- I certainly didn't find & photograph this one because I had spent a lot of time looking for Coccinellidae and recognized that this was unusual!

Maybe someone will know more about the life cycle of this bug and whether it can overwinter in this climate or must be a summer 'accidental'.

Shipping comes into the Port of Newark, ~10 mi away; Kearny, ~5 mi away, is a railyard, warehousing & distribution center. The entrance to the Lincoln Tunnel is less than a mile away. And my cousin (it's his house) makes regular trips to a local dairy, I think in upstate NY.

Oh: the underside of the leaf had 1 or 2 minute orangish specks attached at veins -- potential prey? Could post a shot if it would help, but you'd need a pretty good imagination to make anything out of them.

… Anita Gould, 28 August, 2009 - 9:49pm

Abigail is probably correct,

Abigail is probably correct, It certainly looks like C.B to me. If those orange specks are still there. It sounds like Ladybird eggs. They probably wouldn't help with the ID as is but if they were eggs and you rasied them from such it might assist this ID with further evidence.

… Jason W., 28 August, 2009 - 10:13pm

Thank you!

Interesting! I had taken them for spider mites -- will definitely remember to investigate such thing more closely.

… Anita Gould, 28 August, 2009 - 10:32pm

possible eggs

I'd like to see a photo of them, lady beetle eggs have a distinctive shape that may be visible in the picture.

If you can find the leaf again & collect it, you may be able to rear the larvae. I have a ton o' info and advice on that, I've reared dozens of lady beetles from egg to adult this summer!

Getting some reliably-identified Chilocorus larval images on the Guide would be very helpful. I can't get my C. kuwanae adults to lay eggs in captivity, it's driving me nuts...

… Abigail Parker, 29 August, 2009 - 10:10am

Posted

Interested to know whether you can make anything of it. Feel free to frass if not.

Those egg-to-adult series are terrific!

This is at my cousin's house; we're about an hour away. But his daughter might be interested in a science project, if you think there's something there.

… Anita Gould, 2 September, 2009 - 10:40pm