Oddity Ark #99 (279) Seven-spotted Ladybird

I’m back, and I need to say a big thank you for @cbishop and @arctika for helming this boat while I’m out and about. If you want to request an issue on an amazing animal, fabulous fungus, perplexing plant or awesome paleofauna, don’t hesitate to leave a request in the comments.

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Oddity Ark #99 (#279)

Domain: Eukaryota

Kingdom: Animalia

Phylum: Arthropoda

Class: Insecta

Order: Coleoptera

Family: Coccinellidae

Genus: Coccinella

Species:septampunctata

Related Species: The seven spotted ladybird is one of over ninety species within the genus Coccinellia known collectively as ladybird beetles(1).

Range: The seven-spotted ladybird is found across northern Asia and Europe, from the Korean Peninsula in the east, to the United Kingdom in the west.

IUCN Status: The seven-spotted ladybird is currently not listed on the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN).

Red and Black

The seven-spotted ladybird is a small beetle with a carapace length of up to 8mm. Typically the carapace is a dark red, with three black spots on each wing and a seventh spot just behind the thorax in the middle. The seven-spotted ladybird’s carapace is comprised of the forewings and splits vertically when the beetle is ready to take place. While somewhat cumbersome fliers, ladybirds can reach a top speed of 19mph (30kmph) and a maximum cruising altitude of 1,100m (2). While typically solitary seven-spotted ladybirds may swarm in warm weather, with populations occasionally reaching plague proportions, such as during the exceptionally warm and dry summer of 1976 in the United Kingdom. Older ladybirds occasionally tint yellow on the head, due to a process known as ladybird taint, which can spread onto surfaces that the beetles aggregate on (3).

Seven-spotted ladybirds are carnivorous, primarily feeding upon aphids, scale insects and other small insects. Seven-spotted ladybirds are predated upon by lacewing larvae and insectivorous birds, although the aposematic colouration of red and black advertises the beetles foul taste. When disturbed, ladybirds auto-haemorrhage toxic foul-smelling alkaloids from the joints on the legs to deter predators even further. Due to the toxic nature of the ladybird, other invertebrates such as ladybird spiders (Eresus species) mimic the colourations of ladybirds, despite having no toxins themselves to reduce their own predation (4).

Seven-spotted ladybirds lay their eggs near potential larval food sources, so the flightless larvae do not have to travel far to find prey. Like the adults, larval seven-spotted ladybird feed on aphids and when targeted by predators, ooze toxic secretions from their legs and back. Seven-spotted ladybirds go through four instars, moulting three times before they pupate (5). Upon emerging as an adult, seven-spotted ladybirds live for up to a year, hibernating during cold climates, occasionally in large aggregations in buildings.

Nature’s Most Wanted #22 – Harlequin Ladybird

The harlequin ladybird (Harmonia axyridis) is a small beetle native to eastern Asia, and has spread to Europe and North America, with populations beginning to become established in South America and Africa. Harlequin ladybirds have multiple carapace and spot colours and multiple spot patterns. Harlequin ladybirds gather in larger aggregations then other ladybird species and are more likely to enter human habitation. Harlequin ladybirds feed on plant predators such as aphids and were introduced to Europe and North America to control the populations but quickly expanded from the farms they were introduced to into neighbouring areas.

Where harlequin ladybird populations explode, native ladybird populations decline as they are outcompeted by the introduced harlequin ladybirds (6). Where they gather in large aggregations harlequin ladybirds can stain surfaces and crops, causing contamination of grapes resulting in the alteration of the taste of the wine produced (7). The main impact harlequin ladybirds is the spread of microsporidan parasites, such as Wolbachia, to native ladybird populations. While the harlequin ladybird is immune to the impact of these parasites, native ladybirds are impacted, and causes male larvae to develop into adult female beetles. While ladybirds are able to reproduce by parthenogenesis, the lack of genetic diversity makes native species more susceptible to disease.

Multiple control methods for harlequin ladybirds are utilised, primarily by the wine industry to control population. Control methods include trapping, insecticide spraying and removal of ladybirds, with the sealing of buildings in areas where large aggregations occur. Studies have shown that the alkaloids created by the harlequin ladybird contain an antimicrobial chemical called harmonine, with early tests suggest that certain chemicals may inhibit the growth of Plasmodium falciparum, the protozoan that causes malaria in humans (8).

References

1. www.arkive.com

2. Jeffries, D. L.; Chapman, J; Roy, H. E.; Humphries, S; Harrington, R; Brown, P. M. J.; Lawson Handley, L-J (2013). "Characteristics and drivers of high-altitude ladybird flight: Insights from vertical-looking entomological radar". PLOS ONE. 8 (12)

3. Pickering, Gary J.; Botezatu, Andreea (2021). "A Review of Ladybug Taint in Wine: Origins, Prevention, and Remediation". Molecules. 26 (14): 4341

4. Raška, J; Pekár, S (2018). "Do ladybird spiders really mimic ladybird beetles?". Biological Journal of the Linnean Society. 126 (1): 168–177

5. Majerus, Michael E. N. (2003). "Ladybugs". In Resh, Vincent H.; Cardé, Ring T. (eds.). Encyclopedia of Insects. Academic Press. pp. 618–622

6. Russell F. Mizell III (2007). "Impact of Harmonia axyridis (Coleoptera: Coccinellidea) on native arthropod predators on pecan and crape myrtle" (PDF). Florida Entomologist. 90 (3): 524–536

7. Gary Pickering; James Lin; Roland Riesen; Andrew Reynolds; Ian Brindle; George Soleas (January 2004). "Influence of Harmonia axyridis on the sensory properties of white and red wine". American Journal of Enology and Viticulture. 55 (2): 153–159

8. Christian Rene Röhrich; Che Julius Ngwa; Jochen Wiesner; Henrike Schmidtberg; Thomas Degenkolb; Christian Kollewe; Rainer Fischer; Gabriele Pradel; Andreas Vilcinskas (2011). "Harmonine, a defence compound from the harlequin ladybird, inhibits mycobacterial growth and demonstrates multi-stage antimalarial activity". Biology Letters. 8 (2): 308–311

Picture Credits

1. R.d21e1d2bf91ed67fc0d698da613af636 (885×941) (bing.com)

2. large.jpg (1024×731) (inaturalist-open-data.s3.amazonaws.com)

3. R.4e9c1d9a7c09302b266d3376a24586b1 (905×800) (bing.com)

4. OIP.FMDa15As17GTc7qy6-_WNQHaF1 (474×373) (bing.com)

And that’s the last stop before reaching one-hundred issues, next week we have a big issue to celebrate reaching three figures. And if you want to see more amazing animals and plants, please check out the Oddity Arkive or past issues. And if you want even more animals, please check out dearly departed Impurest Cheese’s Guide to Animals which can be found here, or on the blog of @ficopedia clearly more of a beetle than a Beatle.

If you still have a yearning for learning, please check out the master list of Mr Monster’s Martial Arts Journey.

@cbishop, @mrmonster, @lemillion, @spareheadone, @chino_xl, @goldpool, @whathappened, @yejj, @arranvid, @goodkarma, @jacdec, @steve40l, @cambatta, @arctika, @eisenfauste, @bravebold and @officialtopg

Ladybird, ladybird fly away home, your house is on fire and your children are gone...

Nice 👌 Lady bugs are cool. Every time my dad saw one with me out and about as a kid he'd always tell me dont touch them they're good.

@arctika: Sounds about right. Probably has something to do with them oozing toxic blood onto you when threatened and the fact that they can stain skin and clothing.

@sundown89: I love it. So, it's called a "ladybird" in the UK? Interesting. It's a "ladybug" in the US. :)

@ficopedia: Technically as an ecologist I should be calling them 'ladybird beetles'.

The reason we don't call them ladybugs is that there is a group of insects known as 'true bugs' which include things such as bed bugs, shield bugs, aphids, water scorpions, water striders, assassin bugs and cicadas, all unified by the fact that they have piercing mouthparts and go through incomplete metamorphosis. Ladybirds go through complete metamorphosis and have chewing mandibles, thus making them beetles and are not bugs.

They look delicious

@bravebold: But taste disgusting. The red and black colouration is an advertisement displaying their toxic nature. An easy survival lesson is, if it’s red and black, red and yellow or blue and any colour, it’s probably toxic, poisonous and/or venomous.

@sundown89:

Red n Black

Send it back

@bravebold: Pretty much.

@sundown89: That and they apparently take out other bugs that can harm plants and fruits etc.

@arctika: Well that too, at least for most of them.

Yeah. That's always good for farmers and of course plants.

@arctika: Generally unless you have grapes as shown with the Harlequin Ladybird

Yeah though here in the states it's encouraged to wash your fruits and veggies well before eating since we also have pesticides used on such. I would never eat either without washing them carefully.

@arctika: It’s more them being smooshed into the grapes when making wine. I don’t think I’ve ever washed fruit before eating it, including things like plums and strawberries. Maybe washing fruit is an American thing.

Yeah here that's why I was saying we tend to use a lot of pesticides(though now days some states use less and more natural ingredients) on fruit to keep the harmful bugs away but sadly some of them use toxins so either way be it from the bugs or pesticides they use it's highly recommended to wash or at least rinse off with cold water for a few minutes before eating with grapes, berries or anything really. Same for veggies. Grapes here the bugs don't get smooshed into the grapes since they're pretty meticulous about it though I'm sure if a standard beetle or something got mixed in wouldn't be an issue.

I saw this video way back with figs from trees you have to be careful with there's this fly that lays it's eggs in it turns into a shell for it's off spring so people will cut them open and see the little maggot looking larvas whatever inside of it, kind of nasty lol

@arctika: Ah see I get my fruit from an abandoned orchard. At most I’ll wipe the grime off and cut out the grub holes. You’d be surprised about how much one big can ruin wine, it was a big problem in Australia a while back with millipedes, but then they had so many that they were derailing trains.

As for those figs, it’s likely wasps not flies.

Ah, I see! :)

@sundown89: Ahh yes wasps I meant. Flies lay them in other things lol at least in my parts

@arctika: Yeah and almost none of them good…

@sundown89: Yeah, their choices of where they do so is kind of nasty.

@arctika: Yeah lets just say its worse than you think

@sundown98 oh I know, I've read quite a bit on it and seen some up close and personal unfortunately