Thirteen-spot ladybeetle

Description

Hippodamia tredecimpunctata, commonly known as the thirteen-spot ladybeetle, is a species of lady beetle. Adult H. tredecimpunctata have domed backs, mainly oval, often shiny with short legs and antennae. They have two wing covers. They are usually red to orange in color. This species has thirteen dark or black spots.The larvae are slightly flattened and covered with miniature spines. Very small eggs are laid in groups of 10–50 on the undersides of leaves. The species is distributed throughout much the northern hemisphere-Europe, North Africa, European Russia, the Caucasus, Siberia, the Russian Far East, Belarus, Ukraine, Moldova, Transcaucasia, Kazakhstan, Middle Asia, Western Asia, Afghanistan, Mongolia, China, the Korean Peninsula, Japan, North America. In North America, it can be found in Canada and the northern United States. The relative abundance of this species in North America has been associated with the introduction of the non-native coccinellid Coccinella septempunctata. It is a stenotypic (limited habitat) species most associated with wet meadows, lakesides, flood plains and river deltas, marshes, and in marshes and marshy alder thickets, carr and bodden on Carex, Sparganium, Phragmites, and on Salix It feeds on Aphis farinosa and occurs on grasses and sedges associated with Sipha glyceriae and on aphids associated with Gramineae, Umbelliferae, and some other plants It also feeds on Erysiphales on reeds, before the emergence of aphids It has also found on cane, rotten hay, detritus, and under peeled-off bark. Hippodamia is a genus of ladybirds in the family Coccinellidae. It includes the most common native North American "ladybug", H. convergens, which can form overwintering aggregations numbering in the millions. Another notable member is Hippodamia variegata, which occurs widely over both the North and South Hemispheres. Members of the genus tend to share an elongated body form with red or orange elytra, and a black and white pronotum. Many species, particularly in North America, are highly variable to the extent that they cannot be separated without dissection in many cases.