| Ten-spotted Ladybird (Adalia decempunctata (Linnaeus, 1758)) |
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Scientific name: Adalia decempunctata (Linnaeus, 1758) Common name: Ten-spotted Ladybird Other names: Ten-spotted Lady Beetle French name: Adalie à dix points, Coccinelle à dix points. Order: Coleoptera Family: Coccinellidae Wingspan : 3.5 to 5.5 mm. Biotope: Parks and gardens, woodlands and forests. This species is linked to deciduous trees. It feeds on aphids and sap-sucking insects of the Psylla genus. Geographic area: Europe, Asia, North Africa. Observation period : Adults are observed from April to October. |
The Ten-spotted Ladybird is a very variable species which is sometimes difficult to identify. The background colour of the elytra is orange, black or yellowish brown. They are marked by zero to ten black, yellow or orange spots. There is a transverse keel at the back of the elytra. The legs are a light yellow or light rufous colour. The pronotum is pale with 5 black or brown spots which may more or less merge. The antennae are rather long, longer that the width of the head. Median and hind tibia bear an apical spur. The main possible confusion is with the Asian Ladybird (Harmonia axyridis) which shows the same variability in colour, light-coloured legs and a transverse keel at the back of the elytra. However this last species is a larger size and the tibial spurs are very small and even hardly visible (this is very difficult to see on pictures). For the form with a black ground colour with spots, I have found one identification key using the fact that the front lateral spot touches the edge of the elytra on Adalia decempunctata while this is not the case on Harmonia axyridis. |
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I am used to observing numerous Asian Ladybirds in my garden and I wondered if this one was a variant or another species. Unfortunately I have not precisely measured its size and the pictures are not good enough to check the eventual presence of tibial spurs. The identification of the Ten-spotted Ladybird species is based on the fact that the front lateral spot touches the edge of the elytra. |
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The transverse keel at the back of the elytra is clearly visible in this picture. |
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You can clearly see five spots on each elytron on this upper side view, the two ones at the front touching each other. |
André Bon December 2015