Have you ever spotted an insect with a tiny, oval body having bright red or orange color and black spots on top of it? This insect is none other than a "ladybug". There are a variety of species of this insect with distinct visual appearance. Here is a post covering various kinds of ladybugs that are commonly visible. Go through it and the next time you spot this insect, you actually know which one it is!
Ladybugs or lady beetles are strikingly vibrant-colored insects. They are mostly found in red and orange color. Sometimes, we even get to see them with pink-colored bodies. These are round or oval in shape. They have six legs and a pair of antennae. They have distinct black spots on their oval or round shaped body. Around 5000 species of this insect are present all over the world. North America has the presence of more than 450 species of ladybugs. Even though there are numerous types of lady beetles present in the world, there are quite a handful of them visible to the human eye.
Types of Ladybugs
C-mac Ladybug
It is also known as a pink-spotted ladybug. It is found along the Canadian and the United States border region. It is oblong in shape and less than a quarter-inch long. It has pink or yellow head region with pink body, and black spots covering the body. It is one of the fastest among the group with a huge appetite. It proves to be a great protector of your garden as it feeds on Colorado Potato Beetle’s eggs.
Seven-spotted Ladybug
This bug is round and has a dome-shaped body. It has two white spots on its head and has seven black spots on its red body. It appears during the spring time. Basically from Europe, this bug made its way to North East United States in 1970s’.
Asian Ladybug
This insect has its origin in Asia, but it is vastly found in the United States as well. It is comparatively large than other species, and can be found inside homes because this species tends to move to warm places during winter season. It has 5 black spots on its body and is found in various colors like red, orange, and yellow.
Convergent Ladybug
Farmers use this bug to protect their farms from pests and aphids. It has oval, orange-colored body with black spots on it. It has its presence in pacific coastal areas.
Vedalia Ladybug
It is very tiny, and has a black and red body. This was the first lady beetle to be introduced in the U.S. These bugs were of great help in saving citrus crops in 1800s’ from an insect attack.
California Ladybug
This one looks similar to the seven-spotted ladybug. It is smaller than seven- spotted bug and has no black spots on the body. There is a small spot at the elytra junction.
Twenty-spotted Ladybug
It is yellowish in color and is found in North America. It is a very tiny insect with a size of 2-3 mm. Unlike other lady beetles, this species feeds on mildew.
Orange-spotted Ladybug
It has a black body with orange spots on it. It feeds on mealybugs and scale insects. It is 3-4 mm in size and has a distinct black color outlining the elytra.
Three-banded Ladybug
It is not so commonly found, but is sometimes seen in Canada and the U.S. It has an orange body with black bands on it. These bands appear like bands present on a tiger’s body.
Two-spotted Ladybug
This one has a reddish-orange body and has 2 distinct spots on the outer wings. However, this species shows a lot of variation in number of spots on the body.
Eye-spotted Ladybug
Spots, which look like eyes cover the body of this insect. The black spots are encircled within a yellow ring which appear like an eye, and give an enlarged look to it. It is commonly found on pine trees.
Fifteen-spotted Ladybug
This is a really interesting bug. When young, it is grayish in color with fifteen black spots on the body. As it grows old, the color of the body changes to dark purple and hence, the spots are not clearly visible.
Lady beetles are extensively used by farmers as a means to protect their crops from infestation of insects and aphids. These feed on aphids and protect the crop from being destroyed. Humans have no danger from this insect. They are not poisonous to humans. However, nature has provided them with a strong foul smell that protects them from predators. Also, the bright color of their body with colors like red and orange indicate a danger signal to the predators thus, saving them from falling prey to them.
