[278] Propylea quattuordecimpinctata, Fourteen Spot Ladybird and other Ladybirds

[278] Propylea quattuordecimpunctata, 14-spot Ladybird

Introduction

Ladybirds can have very long scientific names that include Latin versions of numbers but you can call this beetle Propylea 14-punctata, the 14-spot (or 14-spotted) Ladybird. It is also sometimes known as a P-14. (Let’s not get too worried about hyphenation or capitalization or ‘fourteen’ instead of ‘14’.) It is rarer and much smaller than the two ladybird species we have already met. (You can read about labybirds, ladybugs or lady beetles in [086] the 7-spot Ladybird. We have also seen [169] the Harlequin Ladybird, which comes in many coloration forms.)

I will also consider briefly all our other native species of ladybirds.

Taxonomy

Kingdom – Animals

Phylum – Arthropods

Class – Insects

Order – Coleoptera (Beetles)

Family – Coccinellidae

Subfamily – Coccinellinae

Tribe – Coccinellini

Genus – Propylea

Scientific Name – Propylea quattuordecimpunctata

See text for other species

Name

The nearest I can find to Propylea is the Latin propylaeum, the entrance to a temple, coming from Ancient Greek. I don’t why the name was used but the spelling is no surprise.

Ladybirds

You have to start by noting that many ladybirds are named by a number of spots, even when their markings are only loosely like spots. Also note that most species have many colour variations – the base colour, the spot colour and the number, location and sizes of the spots may vary.

You are unlikely to find any of these minor species of ladybirds. They are less common and smaller. I won’t say much about the individual species.

14 Spot

Propylea quattuordecimpunctata, the 14-spot Ladybird comes in over a hundred colour and pattern varieties, some of which are from light yellow to orange with fourteen square black spots. It is native to all of Eurasia, except South-East Asia, and northern Africa. Often the dark spots enlarge and merge together so it may look black with twelve small yellow spots.

They may be found in parks and gardens and, like most ladybirds, they eat aphids and other small insects. All ladybird larval species look similar apart from some variation in colour.

11 Spot

Coccinella undecimpunctata, (or 11-punctata,) the Eleven Spot Ladybird, is similar to its close relative the Seven Spot.

16 Spot

Tytthapsis sedecimpunctata, (or 16-punctata,) the Sixteen Spot Ladybird, is a smaller ladybird, cream coloured. It has a dark central line in addition to its dark spots.

Two Spot

Adalia bipunctata, the Two Spot Ladybird, is a small ladybird with many colour forms. The most common variety is red with two black spots.

Other forms include types having black elytra with four or six red spots.

Cream Streaked

Harmonia quadripunctata is known as the Cream-streaked Ladybird or the Four Spot Ladybird. Like its sister species, the Harlequin, it has several colour forms. These are based on 18 spots, but not all of these always occur. Often just two each at the edges give it the name Four Spot.

Other Notes

Use of abbreviated forms such as 14-punctata gets round the difficulty of mastering Latin spelling. While the species epithet quattuordecimpunctata is used, quatuordecimpunctata is also common. The first of these looks like more accurate Latin but I am not sure which one is officially correct. Both seem to be used. (There is no requirement for scientists to get the spelling correct and many mis-spellings have become official. Propylea looks like a mis-spelling)

See also

About fifty species of ladybirds may be found in Britain but most are quite rare.

We are coming to the end of our blogs on beetles. Just two more to come, one of which will include some leftovers.

[086] Coccinella septempunctata, Seven-spot Ladybird

[086] Coccinella septempunctata, Seven-spot Ladybird

Introduction

Coccinella septempunctata, the Seven-spot Ladybird, was until recently the most common and widespread ladybird in Britain. It’s what most people would imagine when using the word ladybird.

In North America it is known as the seven-spotted ladybug.

Taxonomy

Kingdom – Animals

Phylum – Arthropods

Class – Insects

Order – Coleoptera (Beetles)

Family – Coccinellidae (Ladybirds)

Genus – Coccinella

Scientific Name – Coccinella septempunctata

Name

To most people in Britain this is the only species of ladybird. The word ‘ladybird,’ and the names of the genus, Coccinellus, and family, Coccinellidae, all come from this beetle from its red colour and seven spots. The Virgin Mary was often depicted in a red cloak and the spots on this beetle were taken to signify her seven joys and seven sorrows. So, this beetle became known as Our Lady’s Bird or the Lady Beetle. It became the Ladybird and, in the USA (where bug is used more generically to mean any insect or small invertebrate,) it was changed to Ladybug. In entomology, they are sometimes now known as Ladybird Beetles or Lady Beetles.

Inevitably the name ladybird has spread to other small beetles with spots.

Coccineus is Latin for scarlet and, of course, septem-punctata means seven-spotted.

Beetles

This is our first species of beetle. Coleoptera is by far the largest order of insects with about half a million known species and probably at least another half a million yet to be discovered. They generally have a particularly hard exoskeleton and use only one pair of wings. The front pair of wings are hardened into elytra (Singular: elytron,) which are used as wing covers.

There are at least two hundred families of beetles covering diverse habitats and lifestyles. The larval stage may live for many years and for some species the adult stage is short-lived.

Ladybirds

Coccinellidae is a widespread family of small beetles, many much smaller than this one. There are about six thousand species, many of which have brightly coloured elytra with spots, stripes or other patterns. They are dome shaped with small legs. Some have no markings and are not obviously ladybirds and some similarly shaped small beetles from other families look superficially like ladybirds.

Many species of ladybirds are considered useful as they prey on insects that are considered pests – but some ladybirds are herbivorous. 

Description

Coccinella septempunctata is a typical ladybird. Its elytra are bright red, sometimes orange-red, with seven black spots. Many ladybirds are named from the number of spots and those with an odd number have at least one spot on their midline, coming from both elytra. With a body length of about a centimetre, it is larger than most of the other rarer UK species.

Both the larval and adult stages feed voraciously on aphids or sometimes other small insects such as leafhoppers.

Habitat and use

The 7-spot Ladybird is found in Europe, most of Asia and Australia and lives in many different habitats, wherever there are aphids to eat.

It has been introduced to the USA to control aphids and is spreading. Five US States have it as their official State Insect.

Other Notes

Numbers of 7-spot Ladybirds in Britain have declined considerably in recent years with the advent of [169] the Harlequin Ladybird. At least 95% of the ladybirds I now see are Harlequins.

See also

There are several other species of ladybird found in Britain. Most are significantly smaller.

[278] 14-spot Ladybird will look at some of them. We also now have the Harlequin.