Lady beetles (Coccinellidae)
There are 64 genera and 364 species of Coccinellidae described from Australia (Australian Faunal Directory, 2025)
A guide to the beetles of Australia by G. Hangay & P. Zborowski (CSIRO Publishing, 2010) lists the family's characteristics:
- body broadly ovate, highly convex, usually glabrous but some finely pubescent, 1-7 mm in length
- yellow to black, often bicoloured or spotted, some with metallic shine
- head deflexed, concealed from above by prothorax
- antennae short, usually 11-segmented, including a 3-segmented club
- tarsal formula [number of tarsal segments on front, middle and hind legs] 4-4-4, but appears to be 3-3-3 as the third segment is minute and hidden
Adults and larvae of most species are predators of aphids, mealybugs, scales or other small insects and mites. Exceptions are Epilachna species, which are herbivorous on Cucurbitaceae and Solanaceae, and Illeis galbula which feeds on powdery mildews (Australian beetles, Vol. 1, eds. J.F. Lawrence & A. Slipinski, CSIRO Publishing, 2013)
Announcements
Hello NatureMaprs,We would like to share a handy tip that user recently showed us. It allows you to access your profile page and the wider website as an 'app' on your phone. Screenshots of how to do i...
Continue reading
NatureMapr partners with NSW BCT on next phase of Land Libraries
I'm glad we got attacked - platform outage update
Discussion
Coccinellidae (family)
Unidentified Lady beetle (Coccinellidae)
And the image in this paper matches
https://www.researchgate.net/publication/274194847_Rhyzobius_forestieri_Mulsant_1853_Coccinellidae_an_Australian_ladybird_new_to_Britain_from_the_Wildlife_Garden_of_the_Natural_History_Museum_London
Unidentified Lady beetle (Coccinellidae)
Top contributors
- Hejor1 364
- AlisonMilton 270
- kasiaaus 74
- trevorpreston 49
- clarehoneydove 48
- MichaelBedingfield 44
- ConBoekel 40
- Christine 40
- KylieWaldon 39
- RodDeb 34
Top moderators
- AlisonMilton 1.2K
- MichaelMulvaney 257
- MichaelBedingfield 128
- KimPullen 96
- KimberiRP 59
- Amata 51
- RogerF 27
- donhe 10
- clarehoneydove 9
- DiBickers 7
