The Eye-spotted Lady Beetle (Anatis mali)
Native Lady Beetle Highlight – The Eye-spotted Lady Beetle (Anatis mali)
The Eye-spotted Lady Beetle is one of our largest species of lady beetles in Alaska. This pretty giant can grow up to nearly a centimeter long and features a red to brown body color with many black spots that are each surrounded by a pale ring. This species is encountered throughout both interior and southcentral Alaska, though it seems to be more commonly observed in the interior. This lady beetle is an important predator of aphids and other small insects in trees, both in conifers and hardwoods. In spring they are often observed on trunks of birch or aspen where their red bodies stand out against the white or grey tree bark. If you look closely you might even see one laying a cluster of oval-shaped, orange eggs on the tree!
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Many thanks for this informative Post.
Do you regard the colouration of this insect as aposematic? (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aposematism)
If so, what is the non-apparent anti-predator defence?
Hi! In general the bright colors of lady beetles are thought to be aposematic, serving as a warning about the toxic alkaloids they contain. Many lady beetles have a defense called "reflex bleeding" where they leak hemolymph containing the alkaloids out through their leg joints when harassed. You can find a bit more information about that here: https://www.colorado.edu/asmagazine/2020/07/21/ladybugs-bright-colors-advertise-toxic-chemical-defenses
And here is a research paper that compares the color signal to toxicity of various species: https://www.nature.com/articles/srep11021
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