Identifying the Insect in Question

Coccinellidae, or the Ladybug as it is normally called in North America (Ladybird in other areas), is a beetle in the order Coleoptera, the largest order of insects. 

This insect is small in relation to a human, about half the size of  a pinky nail, or about 8-10 mm. It’s very recognizable because of its aposematic colors. These colors call out to predators warning them that this insect is not one they want to eat because of their toxic nature. Ladybugs are commonly red with black spots, the one shown here has seven spots.  Each of the elytra (wing covers) has 3.5 spots, one crossing over both sides. 

Their round bodies have six segmented legs attached to the thorax. Ladybugs use their antennae to locate its food of choice, aphids. They have cursorial legs, best equipped for running, which they use when traveling across a plant during hunting. As mentioned before, they have elytra, hard shell wing covers that are used to protect their thin, vein filled wings. They fold their elytra back when flying to allow their wings room to expand. 

Feeding Habits

Ladybug have a basic mouth structure, one with a labrum, mandibles, labium, and maxille. They have the maxillary and labial palps as well, used to hold the food in place.

Ladybugs are predators, feasting ferociously on aphids and other insects with soft bodies, including mites, white flies, and other scale insects, all of which are pests to plants. True to coleoptera form, both the immatures and adults eat the same food, hunting aphids and other soft-bodied insects viciously, until the plant that they reside on have no more left. 

They tend to walk up to an aphid and chase it down, capturing it between their first pair of legs, and biting through the exoskeleton with their mandibles. They find it easy to penetrate the exoskeleton of their prey because aphids are relatively soft (in comparison to some other insects) and their mandibles are powerful enough to bite through.

Some species of ladybugs, including the Mexican Bean Beetle, are considered pests because they feed on plants rather than insects. They can ruin crops and cause massive impacts on the bean industry, their prime plant of choice. 

Habitat and My Ladybug

The insect was found in my backyard just after noon when it was still pretty chilly and picked up by my younger sister, who promptly named it “Jimmy” despite neither of us knowing its sex. It was resting on a dandelion plant, one that I am sure was not its intended habitat. Ladybugs in my backyard are not a normal occurrence, which is strange considering the vast amounts of plants both of a flowering nature and otherwise. 

Because we are nearing our “winter” months, I suspect that this insect in question was on its way to find a swarm to hibernate with and this was just a stop along the way to rest its wings.

Here you can see it resting on my hand with slightly open elytra, possibly preparing to fly away, except it stayed with my sister and I for approximately 5 minutes.

It crawled between my sister and I, preferring her hand over mine, barely staying on long enough for me to catch a photo of it next to my name.

It sat on my sister’s pajama shirt for a while, also with slightly open elytra, shown here: 

Ecological Importance

Ladybugs are very important in terms of ecology and farming. As mentioned, they eat aphids in vast amounts, which are an agricultural pest. This allows plants and crops to grow without the threat of being attacked and eaten by aphids. 

While it is largely beneficial, some areas with a more legitimate winter than Southern California have been known to find swarms of these beetles indoors during autumn and winter months. This can be problematic especially because these beetles cluster together for hibernation during the winter to keep warm and if they stay inside where it is normally over 60° F (15° C) , then they can ruin their biological clock. (60° F is the minimal temperature they need to become active and resume normal functions.)

Despite being common occurance in Southern California and all over North America, the ladybug, specifically the species harmonia axyridis, popularly known as the harlequin ladybug, was introduced to North America in 1916 to control aphid populations. It is most recognizable for its size, 5.5-8.5mm, one of the larger ladybugs there are. They can be red or orange in color with spots ranging from 2 to 20+ spots of a variety of sizes.