Seven-spotted Lady Beetle
Lat. “Coccinella septempunctata“
species
of family
“Lady Beetles“
1 species
Coccinella septempunctata, the seven-spot ladybird (or, in North America, seven-spotted ladybug or “C-7”), is the most common ladybird in Europe. Its elytra are of a red colour, but punctuated with three black spots each, with one further spot being spread over the junction of the two, making a total of seven spots, from which the species derives both its common and scientific names (from the Latin septem = “seven” and punctus = “spot”).
Biology
Although C. septempunctata larvae and adults mainly eat aphids, they also feed on Thysanoptera, Aleyrodidae, on the larvae of Psyllidae and Cicadellidae, and on eggs and larvae of some beetles and butterflies. They breed one or two generations per year. Adults overwinter in ground litter in parks, gardens and forest edges and under tree bark and rocks. C. septempunctata has a broad ecological range, generally living wherever there are aphids for it to eat. This includes, amongst other biotopes, meadows, fields, Pontic–Caspian steppe, parkland, gardens, Western European broadleaf forests and mixed forests. In the United Kingdom, there are fears that the seven-spot ladybird is being outcompeted for food by the harlequin ladybird.
An adult seven-spot ladybird may reach a body length of 7.6–12.7 mm (0.3–0.5 in). Their distinctive spots and conspicuous colours warn of their toxicity, making them unappealing to predators. The species can secrete a fluid from joints in their legs which gives them a foul taste. A threatened ladybird may both play dead and secrete the unappetising substance to protect itself. The seven-spot ladybird synthesizes the toxic alkaloids, N-oxide coccinelline and its free base precoccinelline; depending on sex and diet, the spot size and coloration can provide some indication of how toxic the individual insect is to potential predators.
Distribution
The species can be found in Europe, North Africa, Australia, Cyprus, European Russia, the Caucasus, Siberia, the Russian Far East, Belarus, Ukraine, Moldova, the Transcaucasia, Kazakhstan, Middle Asia, Western Asia, Middle East, Afghanistan, Mongolia, China, North and South Korea, Pakistan, Nepal, North India, Japan, Sri Lanka, southeast Asia, and tropical Africa.
Larval instars
The newly-hatched larva is 1 to 2 mm long. It is generally dull black in color and has a pale brown line along the dorsal side of the abdomen. The tubercules and hairs are sparse and small. The legs are relatively long and lighten towards the end.
Subspecies
Coccinella septempunctata septempunctata Coccinella septempunctata algerica Kovář, 1977 Coccinella septempunctata brucki (Mulsant, 1866)
External links
Media related to Coccinella septempunctata at Wikimedia Commons Data related to Coccinella septempunctata at Wikispecies
Ancestry Graph
Further Information
Copyright
This article uses material from the Wikipedia article Coccinella septempunctata the free encyclopedia Wikipedia which is released under Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License). On Wikipedia a list of authors is available.