Coccinella difficilis and C. 7-punctata larvae on yucca plant - Coccinella difficilis

My suspicion

Is that the larva with extra orange is just a form of Hippodamia convergens. It doesn't look like Coccinella to me.

… James Bailey, 31 May, 2018 - 3:46pm

Moved to Coccinella difficilis

Moved from Seven-spotted Lady Beetle.

At least two larvae in this photo are Coccinella difficilis: one immediately left of the big larva in the center, and another farther to its right. Note the orange markings on the 6th and 7th abdominal segments. The larva at center, Coccinella septempunctata, has no orange past the 4th abdominal segment.

The other larvae in this image might be either of the two identified species, or even another species of Coccinella. Because the image has two C. difficilis, and that is an uncommon native species, I believe the image belongs in C. difficilis and not the common, introduced, often-photographed C. 7-punctata.

… Abigail Parker, 1 April, 2010 - 11:45am

Coccinella difficilis is in there!

With Gordon & Vandenberg's "Larval Systematics of North American Coccinella"(1) finally in my hand, I've keyed out the larvae that aren't C. septempunctata (the ones w/ orange markings past the 4th abdominal segment), and I believe they are Coccinella difficilis. Nothing else quite matches, and the species occurs in Colorado.

I'm going to move this image to C. difficilis, which is a less-common and more exciting species than C. septempunctata.

… Abigail Parker, 1 April, 2010 - 11:09am

2 or more species here

The big one in the middle is C. septempunctata, but the one seen in profile on the left is definitely not. It has orange markings on the 6th and 7th abdominal segments; C. septempunctata doesn't have orange past the 4th segment. It's harder to tell with the smaller larvae, but at least one of them has orange past the 4th segment. So there are at least two species here.

I'm not sure if this belongs under C. septempunctata, even though the main subject is that species. On the other hand, I don't want to move it to Unidentified Larvae, since one of them is identified!

… Abigail Parker, 18 December, 2009 - 8:54pm

I am very interested in this insect

I have an infestation of these on my honeysuckle. They seem to focus on the underside of the leaves. They spin a type of silk thread and leave black dots all over the leaves.

please contact me if identified
jharris008@hotmail.com

… jerry, 17 June, 2006 - 5:12pm

These are ladybug larvae

so the infestation is of something else - they are predators of aphids (and possibly other small plant-feeding creatures). In the left of this photo you can see one with what appears to be a brown aphid in its jaws. It's unusual to see such a cluster of them, in my experience - although if you look at the comment on this one (below), which seems to be the same species (Seven-spotted ladybird), it describes a similarly large group.

… Hannah Nendick-Mason, 17 June, 2006 - 5:46pm