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Photo#761883
Sad ladybug - Hippodamia quinquesignata

Sad ladybug - Hippodamia quinquesignata
Poway, San Diego County, California, USA
April 20, 2013
Ladybug on Scrub Oak at Blue Sky Ecological Reserve

Images of this individual: tag all
Sad ladybug - Hippodamia quinquesignata Sad ladybug - Hippodamia quinquesignata Sad ladybug - Hippodamia quinquesignata Sad ladybug - Hippodamia quinquesignata

Moved
Moved from Hippodamia.

Hippodamia quinquesignata quinquesignata
My first impression was correct: the Five-spotted Lady Beetle. I haven't seen one with precisely these markings all together, but individually the elytra and pronotum add up to H. q. quinquesignata.

 
Wow
I never would have guessed that subspecies. Why is it all the way down here? Any idea why the markings are so different on this one? It's not even five-spotted? :)

 
good questions!
Mapped ranges don't always correspond to the locations of the actual beetles - I considered it carefully and concluded that the range of H. q. quinquesignata is so broad, and that of H. q. ambigua so narrow, that an overlap was possible. The markings on this one are especially confluent - I admit it is strange, but I went through every illustration in Chapin's Hippodamia monograph and absolutely nothing else has the same elytra pattern with a pronotum lacking a pale margin at the front. It's an unusual variation, but because Chapin worked from preserved specimens, someone found something like it before!

 
Great information!
I really appreciate your reply and I in no way was questioning your expertise. Being only a nature nerd with no professional knowledge, I was just over curious :)

Moved
Moved from Lady Beetles.

Probably Hippodamia quinquesignata quinquesignata
I don't have my best Hippodamia reference with me right now, I'll check it by the end of the day and should have a definite ID.

 
Thank you!
I look forward to your final decision, Abigail :)

Moved for expert attention
Moved from ID Request.

Hippodamia sp.
maybe H. oregonensis or moesta? There are lady beetle specialists here who can better assist.

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