The lady beetle most often sold as "biological pest control" — but the harvested adults are typically wild-caught from California overwintering aggregations and shipped, which spreads disease and crashes wild populations.
§ Quick facts
§ Encyclopedia
Hippodamia convergens, commonly known as the convergent lady beetle, is one of the most common lady beetles in North America and is found throughout the continent. They tend to live a variety of habitats, including grasslands and forests.
Source: Wikipedia — Hippodamia convergens Licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0
§ Identification
Field marks. Small oval beetle with bright red or orange elytra and 0–13 black spots; black head with white pronotum markings.
Similar species. Asian Lady Beetle (introduced; more variable color, "M" mark on pronotum). Other native ladybug species.
Voice. N/A
§ Diet & behavior
Diet. Aphids, scale insects, mealybugs. Adult eats ~50 aphids per day; larva ~400 over its development.
Behavior. Adults migrate to high-elevation hibernacula in dense aggregations (millions in some sites) and disperse to feed each spring.
§ Range
Throughout North America from Canada to Mexico
§ Habitat
Meadows, agricultural fields, forest edges, gardens
§ Threats
Loss of overwintering habitat, displacement by introduced multicolored Asian lady beetle (Harmonia axyridis), pesticides.
§ Conservation status
According to the IUCN Red List, the convergent lady beetle is currently classified as Least Concern.
§ What helps
Don't buy commercial lady beetles. Support a native pollinator garden — they'll arrive on their own. Avoid lawn pesticides.
§ Further reading
- Wikipedia — Hippodamia convergens
- www.nwf.org — authoritative profile of Hippodamia convergens
- iNaturalist · taxon 51178
- IUCN Red List — search for Hippodamia convergens
- GBIF occurrence records
- Encyclopedia of Life — Hippodamia convergens
§ Sources cited
- Xerces Society
- Lost Ladybug Project
- BugGuide
- iNaturalist
