ENY 3005 Family Identification

Coleoptera: Coccinellidae

 Common name: ladybird beetles, ladybugs, lady beetles

Identifying characteristics for the family Coccinellidae include:

• First abdominal sternite entire, not divided by hind coxae (suborder Polyphaga).
• Most species with distinctive shape, strongly convex dorsally and flat ventrally.
• Tarsi appearing 3-3-3, but actually 4-4-4.
• Head often concealed by pronotum.
• Antennae short with a 3- to 6-segmented club.

• There are about 400 coccinellid species in North America and 5,000 species worldwide.
• Nearly all species, in both the larval and adult stages, are predators of aphids and scales. A few species, such as the Mexican bean beetle, are phytophagous.

• Page 180 and plate 6 in D. J. Borror and R. E. White. 1970. A Field Guide to the Insects. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Co.
• Pages 231-237 in R. E. White. 1983. A Field Guide to Beetles of North America. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Co. 368 p.
• Page 441 in D. J. Borror, C. A. Triplehorn, and N. F. Johnson. 1989. An Introduction to the Study of Insects, 6th ed. Philadelphia: Saunders College Publishing. 875 p.
• Page 215 in R. G. Bland and H. E. Jaques. 1978. How to Know the Insects, 3rd ed. Dubuque, Iowa: Wm. C. Brown Co. 409 p.
• Page 476 in H. V. Daly, J. T. Doyen, and A. H. Purcell III. 1998. Introduction to Insect Biology and Diversity, 2nd ed. Oxford University Press. 680 p.

Links to other web sites

• Gordon's Coccinellidae
• Mexican bean beetle - One of the few phytophagous species of Coccinellidae 
• Multicolored Asian lady beetle, Harmonia axyridis Pallas
• Ladybugs of Florida - An excellent overview of the biology and varied feeding habits of the family Coccinellidae. Includes a table listing the 96 species found in Florida.
• Chilocorus stigma, the twicestabbed lady beetle. This little black beetle with 2 red spots is a common predator of scale insects throughout much of the United States and Canada.