[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.

[169] Harmonia axyridis, Harlequin

[169] Harmonia axyridis, Harlequin Ladybird

Introduction

Harmonia axyridis, the Harlequin Ladybird, is an invasive ladybird that has recently spread across Britain.

It is also called the Multicoloured Ladybird or Asian Ladybird and has many other names. It has been called the Many-named Ladybird!

As noted with [086] the Seven-Spot Ladybird, these insects may be called Ladybugs, Ladybird Beetles or Lady Beetles. In context Harmonia axyridis may just be called a Harlequin.

Taxonomy

Kingdom – Animals

Phylum – Arthropods

Class – Insects

Order – Coleoptera (Beetles)

Family – Coccinellidae (Ladybirds)

Genus – Harmonia

Scientific Name – Harmonia axyridis

Its original name was Coccinella axyridis.

Name

The well-known Harlequin character is noted for his colourful, chequered coat.

In Greek mythology, Harmonia, daughter of Ares and Aphrodite, was the goddess of harmony.

I can’t trace ‘axyridis.’

Description

As all beetles, this species is holometabolous. Apart from a very occasional caterpillar, this is the only insect you are likely to see in its larval stage. To be honest, if you look around you at plants in the summer you are very likely to see a few of these.

They have five instar stages of which the last two are more often seen. They are mostly black with some orange markings and spiny defences along their backs. (The Seven-spot Ladybird has a similar larval stage with less orange markings.)

They just roll up and pupate where they are on a leaf.

The adult insect is similar in size and shape to the Seven-spot Ladybird and may be similar in its colouring, but it has a number of different forms. It is said to have a common form with various shades of orange to red elytra and from zero to twenty-two spots of variable size – but this covers a large number of different forms. Other forms may be black, with or without a number of spots, or more complex patterns of black, orange and red.

The pronotum usually has a pattern with more areas of white than the Seven-spot Ladybird and this can be a useful identification feature.

[Note: The thorax of an insect is formed of three parts, each connected to a pair of legs. The front section is called the prothorax, while the other two segments bear the wings or, for beetles, elytra. The prothorax consists of the upper pronutum, the lower prosternum and two lateral propleurons. All of this means that what entomologists call the pronutum is what you might think of as its ‘shoulders,’ or the part of its back in front of the wings.]

It is generally considered to be one of the worst invasive insects worldwide. In Europe is spreads to the detriment of native species. It competes with and may even eat other ladybird species.

It was first sighted in the UK in 2004 and was declared the fastest invading species in 2015. It has led to a significant decline in native British Species such as the Seven-spot Ladybird.

They feed voraciously on Aphids.

Habitat and use

The Harlequin is native to parts of East Asia but has been very widely introduced elsewhere to control [217] Aphids. where it has been introduced it tends to spread rapidly and become Invasive.

Other Notes

You can find these insects on Summer by looking around on plants that might have aphids. They are easier to spot that the aphids they might have eaten.

See also

There are several other species of Ladybird that may be found in Britain, generally much smaller than the Seven-spot and Harlequin. See [278] 14-spot Ladybird.

[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.