Saturday, November 10, 2012

Little Garden Dwellers

Ladybugs, ladybirds

 I am still not sure if the above is really a ladybird beetle. It looks rightly so with 6 red design patches.  But those in the lists are mostly with dots, the designs here are irregularly shaped. I hope someone will be able to identify it too! My search led to my identification of this as a Harlequin ladybird or Harmonia axyridis,  a Northern Asian native but now spread to US and UK presumably to control aphids.

 The first time I saw one of these ladybugs a few months ago, i asked a blogger friend from UK for its ID, and when she also didn't know it I posted it in Project Noah, where some people identified it. Caroline Gill gave me the description that it is a testudinate ladybug because the design looks like a turtle.  I learned from Project Noah that it is Heteroneda reticulata. The projects review in our office last week corrected my previous knowledge on this ladybug. I learned the correct name of this as a coccinellid netted lady beetle or Heteroneda billardieri Crotch. I have then to correct the entry at the Project Noah post too.

 A scientist reported culturing this as a botanical control. That led me to look for it among our very well psyllid infested ipil-ipil (Leucaena leucocephala) in the property. My nephew actually told me he saw lots of them there, and true enough I saw a few of them there, these two are actually in one plant. I even brought 4 of them to my garden, i hope they will multiply and also eat the aphids and mealy bugs.

This one looks like the ladybug, but it is not. Those antennae make the difference. 



Camera Critters Meme


18 comments:

  1. Great photos of an interesting lady bug.

    FlowerLady

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  2. Wonderful capture of the ladybugs! They are cute!

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  3. Very cool! I love seeing new bugs and learning about them. Their designs are so cool.

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  4. Those are truly beautiful! Thanks for sharing their photos.

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  5. Fascinating photos of these pretty little bugs.

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  6. You got some marvelous macros of these ladybugs. I really like the sharp detail you captured. Thanks for introducing me to some new varieties of these insects.

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  7. It's my first time to see those kinds of ladybug. Perfect shots.

    Thanks for your visit :)

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  8. What delightful photos!

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  9. Andrea, thank you for your message. I totally agree with George above ... and am so glad you are beginning to find these cute (and useful!) creatures in your locality. The testudinate variety is particularly interesting, I think!

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  10. Great close up photos Andrea, especially the second one!

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  11. Great shots of beautiful and uncommon types of ladybugs.

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  12. Those are great close ups Andrea - I hope I never see a harlequin in our woods.

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  13. Hi Girlie, We had a SWARM of Ladybugs at our house one time (a few years ago).... Some of them even got INSIDE the house... Have you ever killed one of those bugs??? They STINK to high heaven if you squeeze them... YUK!!!!!

    Great pictures... I've never seen the yellow ones. Ours are the black/orange ones.
    Hugs,
    Betsy

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  14. These ladybugs are unusual but still incredible. It's true. My family in Wisconsin has had to deal with these invading ladybugs and they are EVERYWHERE! I don't know exactly how they got here but I know they are pesky for many people back home.

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  15. All the years I have looked at ladybugs, I have never noticed they do not have antennae...

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