Spotless Ladybird Beetle - Cycloneda sanguinea

Guelph

The ladybird poster at Guelph has Cycloneda munda with a white pattern almost identical to that shown above.

… john and jane balaban, 4 December, 2004 - 8:17pm

indeed

So it does; I guess the pattern of those spots isn't a good clue. This page also shows munda with separated white dots. However, the paper I referenced below states that munda doesn't occur in Florida, so I would assume this speciman is still sanguinea. If Tony has other shots showing the shape more clearly these could also provide a clue. The difference in body shape seems pretty clear based on that paper and a Google image search for "cycloneda".

… Joel Kits, 5 December, 2004 - 1:57am

List of Florida Coleoptera

Hey all,

Unfortunately I did not get a dorsal shot of this little beetle. However, I found this list of recorded Florida Coleoptera, and (as Joel has pointed out) C. sanguinea is listed but C. munda is not.

So I say we stick with this ID for now unless a professional bugger informs us otherwise:)

Thanks for all of your input!

… Tony DiTerlizzi, 6 December, 2004 - 10:15pm

Cycloneda sanguinea

From the few pictures I've found on the internet and some other sources, it seems this pattern with isolated white spots is more typical of C. sanguinea. It's not clear to me whether or not this is a 100% reliable mark, though. The body shape also differs between the two species, with sanguinea being more circular and with more rounded elytra. Probably the most important difference for this specimen, though, is that only sanguinea appears to occur in Florida.

Ref:
Vandenberg, N. 2002. Proc. Entomol. Soc. Wash. 104: 221-236.

… Joel Kits, 4 December, 2004 - 12:55am

Ah yes...

You are right Joel,

especially when you compare this pic to these at University of Florida's site.

Thanks!

… Tony DiTerlizzi, 4 December, 2004 - 7:53am