Striped Ladybird
S11, Adult, Helping
Striped Ladybird
S11, Larva, ventral
| Striped Ladybird S11, Adult, Helping | | Striped Ladybird S11, Larva, ventral | | ||
 | Class: | Animals (Animalia) - Jointed Legs (Arthropoda) - Insects (Insecta) | |||
| Order: | Beetles (Coleoptera) | ||||
| Family: | Ladybird (Coccinellidae) iNaturalist Observation | ||||
| Species: | Striped Ladybird (Micraspis furcifera) | ||||
| This Photo: | 🔍S11, Larva, Helping🔎 | ||||
Thank you Reiner Richter, Mark Hura & Karen Weaving for confirming the id of this species for us General Species Information: Found on Ellura (in the Murray Mallee, SA) and elsewhere Eggs, ~1.5mm, Larvae ~6mm & Adults ~5mm long. Pale yellow lady bug with black stripes. Or is it black with yellow stripes The markings on both adults and larvae are quite variable even when on the same bush at the same time; let alone across the country. The main variation is the amount of black vs yellow. The patterns follow the same general outline (but lines can be thicker/thinner or partly missing). We can't tell the difference between the genders, but one we captured laid eggs in the pot, so knew was female. The eggs are yellow; laid vertically. We were surprised when photographing the female that she has emarginate eyes! We've never seen inverts actively helping each other in a civilised manner until the other day. For the first time we found these Ladybird larvae; on a Kidney Saltbush. When we turned the larva over to get a ventral shot, one of the adults we caught at the same time ran over to help right it. When we did the same thing to the adult, this same larva came over to the adult to help it turn back the right way! Photgraphed in Jan, Feb, May, Nov & Dec. | |||||
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