BEETLES

Convergent Ladybird Beetle, Hippodamia convergens

Order: Coleoptera (Beetles)

Size: Up to 3⁄8"

Habitat: Gardens, fields, woodlands

Range: Eastern United States

The ladybird beetles, commonly called “ladybugs” (although they are not true bugs), comprise a large group of familiar and welcome beetles that are voracious predators on many destructive insects such as aphids and scale insects. Most are small, nearly round and domed above, have tiny legs and antennae, and are colored orange to reddish with variable black spots. The Convergent Ladybird Beetle is shiny red with thirteen black spots on the back and has a black pronotum (top of the thorax) with a white border and two converging white stripes. The larva is spindly, spiny, and black with orange spots, and it forms a pupa that is orangey with black spots. Adults may overwinter in large numbers under clumps of leaves, becoming active again in the spring. Ladybird beetles are sometimes bought and released as a biological pest-control device in gardens and crops.