Harmonia axyridis f. succinea

Native to eastern Asia. Introduced and naturalized.

Early spring to fall

Meadows, fields, gardens, houses. Any place having plants with aphids.

3 ⁄16″ to 5 ⁄16″

Aphids

Aphids, thrips, mites, scale insects, and eggs of butterflies and moths.

This is a 3 ⁄16″ to 5 ⁄16″ long ladybird beetle.

The body is oval and dome-shaped. The transition between the head and thorax plate (pronotum), and between the pronotum and the forewings (elytra) is smooth.

The pronotum is white with 4 black spots or patches that may blend together into a W or M pattern. This is the only reliable identifying feature in the field.

The thick, hardened, shell-like forewings (elytra) are highly variable. They may be orange with black spots, orange with no spots, or red with black spots. Fully spotted individuals have 10 black spots on each wing cover.

The legs are usually brown or reddish.

Adults usually live 30 to 90 days, but may live up to 2 or 3 years. There are usually two generations per year. Adults seek warm places, like homes of humans, to hibernate over the winter.

seven-spotted lady beetle (Coccinella septempunctata) elytra are spotted in a 1-4-2 pattern.

Two-spotted lady beetle (Adalia bipunctata) has orange elytra with 1 black spot on each side.

The term lady beetle is more appropriate than ladybug because bug refers to insects in the order Hemiptera.