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Home » Guide » Arthropods (Arthropoda) » Hexapods (Hexapoda) » Insects (Insecta) » Beetles (Coleoptera) » Polyphaga » Series Cucujiformia » Coccinelloidea » Coccinellid group » Lady Beetles (Coccinellidae) » Coccinellinae » Harmonia » Asian Lady Beetle (Harmonia axyridis)
Photo#857797
Multicolored Asian lady beetle - Harmonia axyridis
Copyright © 2013 Maria de Bruyn

Multicolored Asian lady beetle - Harmonia axyridis
Chapel Hill, Mason Farm Biological Reserve, Orange County, North Carolina, USA
October 20, 2013
This beetle was raising up its back end - is this a defensive posture?
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Contributed by Maria de Bruyn on 21 October, 2013 - 11:42pm
Last updated 24 October, 2013 - 8:07am

Moved
Moved from ID Request.
… Maria de Bruyn, 24 October, 2013 - 8:07am login or register to post comments

pupal stage; yes, defensive behavior
This is a pupa, not an adult beetle - no head, wings, or legs, and it's physically attached to the leaf at the rear of its body. Just because it's pupating doesn't make it a sitting duck, though! By raising and lowering itself, it can startle predators into leaving it alone, and if it snaps up and down fast enough it can actually trap them under itself - pupae been observed to kill ants this way!
… Abigail Parker, 24 October, 2013 - 4:58am login or register to post comments

 
Pupa
Thanks, I did know it was not an adult. It was lowering and raising itself slowly but it's good to know that it can do that quickly and it's really interesting to know that this defensive mechanism works in that way! Thanks very much for the information!
… Maria de Bruyn, 24 October, 2013 - 8:05am login or register to post comments

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