Native Lady Beetle Highlight – The Twenty-spotted Lady Beetle (Psyllobora vigintimaculata)

The twenty-spotted lady beetle is one of our smallest species of lady beetles in Alaska. This little beauty measures in at only 1.75-3 mm long, which is only about a third of the size of our large eye-spotted lady beetle that was highlighted a few weeks ago. The twenty-spotted lady beetle is cream-colored with many dark brown spots that often coalesce into zig-zag like patterns. The last few weeks I’ve highlighted many of our aphid-feeding species, however, the twenty-spotted lady beetle differs in that it feeds predominantly on fungus; this species is often found on shrubs and other vegetation feeding on powdery mildews from the leaf surfaces.

Native Lady Beetle Highlight – The Transverse Lady Beetle (Coccinella transversoguttata)

The transverse lady beetle is one of our most commonly encountered lady beetles here in Alaska. It gets its name from the wide, horizontal band near the front of its gold to red elytra. The transverse lady beetle does well in a variety of habitats including forests, meadows, parks, gardens, and agricultural fields where it feeds predominantly on aphids but also other small, soft-bodied arthropods.

This species has been in decline throughout many parts of North America; unfortunately, other states and Canadian provinces have reported seeing remarkable declines in the transverse lady beetle after introduction of the non-native seven-spotted lady beetle and/or multicolored Asian lady beetle. Once abundant throughout Canada, the transverse lady beetle has not been detected in over two decades across five Canadian provinces, and has been reduced to small populations in four others. The seven-spotted lady beetle has begun to show up in some urban areas of Alaska which has sparked some concern about the potential for negative impacts on our native transverse lady beetle population.

Native Lady Beetle Highlight – The Sickle-marked Lady Beetle (Hippodamia falcigera)

The sickle-marked lady beetle is one of our species of lady beetles that bears stripes rather than spots. The elytra are yellow to gold in color and feature three longitudinal stripes – one down the center that tapers near the end, and one on each elytron that makes a small, sickle-like curl near the end. The sickle-marked lady beetle is typically found in wet, marshy habitat where it feeds predominantly on aphids.