Categories

Chilocorus stigma – Twice-stabbed Lady Beetle
Hello favorite bug people!
I took these pics in Kane County, Illinois today. What a freaky looking little ladybug. I’ve never seen anything like this one. I found something similar on your ladybug page (see entry dated 10/19/2005) but it doesn’t quite match up. The one I found did not appear to have any white patches on it’s face. I also grabbed a shot of it’s belly in case this helps with id’ing. It was about the same size as a typical lady bug, maybe slightly smaller, but not much. After picking up clues from your site, I delved into the enormous bugguide.com and found what appeared to me to be an exact match, The Twice-stabbed Lady Beetle. What an appropriate name based on her appearance! As usual, your site, expertise, and hard work are greatly appreciated.
Sincerely,
Michelle Nash
Lily Lake, IL

Hi Michelle,
We wish we could hire you to help research our site. Thanks for the photo of the Twice-Stabbed Ladybird Beetle.

Update: (03/10/2007)
Looking at ladybirds on-line, I noticed that the ladybird which was ID’ed as the Twice-Stabbed ladybird, Chilocorus stigma, on 07/12/2006, is in fact something different. This is an introduced Korean ladybird beetle that was used as a biological control agent in several parts of the USA, and seems to have spread widely. It’s Chilocorus kuwanae, and this page shows the differences between the two species, as well as giving a lot more useful information. http://www.nysaes.cornell.edu/ent/biocontrol/predators/chilocorus.html
Susan

Related Posts

1. Twice Stabbed Ladybird Beetles: feeding on Scale Insects on Bamboo (August 1, 2007)
2. Black Ladybird (October 19, 2005)
3. Ladybird Beetle Larva (May 30, 2005)
4. Plant Pests Mealybug and Scale Insects, and predator Twice Stabbed Ladybird Beetle Larva (May 19, 2007)
5. Ladybird Beetle (November 20, 2008)