__START__20060309152921.KNDm.pick@discoverlife.org Guide
Index:

Overview:
"Although North America's almost 500 species of Coccinellidae include three species that attack plants and another three which eat fungal spores, most lady beetles are extraordinary consumers of aphids and related soft-bodied insects such as mealybugs.  The familiar rotund little red or orange beetles that everyone recognises as lady beetles usually specialize on aphids, and are among the most beneficial of beetles."

Kinds:

Identification:
"Members of this family are quite oval and dorsally convex in overall body form. They commonly have a very glossy cuticl e with red, orange or yellow markings, but some may be dull and covered with setae. They have characteristic tarsi that are 4-segmented, but appear 3-segmented. The third tarsomere is small and is obscured by the dilated second tarsomere. The antennae are short and well-clubbed."-- Eddie Dunbar, Berkeley

Families:

Common_names_and_synonyms:
Lady Beetles<br>
Ladybugs

Phylogeny:
Superfamily -- Cucujoidea
<p>
Subfamiles
<ul><li>
	Chilocorinae: Chilocoris
</li><li>
	Coccinellinae: Adalia, Anatis, Anisosticta, Calvia, Coccinella, Coleomagilla,
	Cycloneda, Harmonia, Hippodamia, Mulsantia, Neoharmonia, Propylea, Psyllobora
</li><li>
	Epilachninae: Epilachna
</li><li>
	Scymninae: Brachiacantha Cryptolaemus Hyperaspis
</li></ul>

Photographs:

Geographic_distribution:
<i>Coccinella</i> species usually fit the popular image of "typical" lady beetles - rounded, convex, reddish orange beetles with black markings.  We have about half a dozen species in the province, but our only currently common <i>Coccinella</i> is the introduced species <i>C. septempunctata</i>." 
<p>
"Ontario has two large (7-10mm), distinctive species in the genus Anatis."<br>

Natural_history:
Most larvae and adults are predators of small insects such as aphids. 

How_to_encounter:

Links_to_other_sites:
<ul><li>
<a href="http://www.uoguelph.ca/debu/lady/lady-beetles.htm">Lady Beetles of Ontario, University of Guelph</a>
</li></ul>

References:
<ul><li>
Seeno, T. and J.A. Wilcox.  1982.  Leaf Beetle Genera (Coleoptera: Coccinellidae). Entomography 1:1-221.
</li></ul>

Acknowledgements:
<ul><li>
Steve Marshall, Environmental Biology, University of Guelph, Ontario
</li></ul>

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