Seven-spotted Lady Beetle

Here are a couple of Seven-spotted Lady Beetles from last spring. They can be identified by their 2 (relatively) large white spots on their heads. You might think it would be easier to identify them by their 7 spots, which these 2 individuals have. Unfortunately spots on these types of beetles tends to vary. The Seven-spotted Lady Beetle usually has 7 spots but can have as many as 9 spots and as few as zero spots.

I grew up calling these ladybugs while in Britain they're called ladybirds. Neither of these names are great since they are neither birds or true bugs [1]. They are a type of beetle though, so using the "lady beetle" terminology is better. (Admittedly the "lady" part of the name is still inaccurate for the males of the population, though that's an inaccuracy for another time.)

June 15, 2023 at Sourland Mountain Preserve
Photo 300990664, (c) jpviolette, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC)

June 15, 2023 at Sourland Mountain Preserve
Photo 300989540, (c) jpviolette, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC)

AFAIK all these lady beetles are voracious predators of small invertebrates, including garden nuisances like aphids. Because of that, even though this particular species is invasive, they're actually fairly popular with farmers and gardeners. Probably for that reason, there's a superstition that says it's good luck to have a lady beetle land on you. The comic below illustrates that lady beetles aren't as lucky for aphids. (Here's a somewhat more realistic picture of a lady beetle stalking aphids.)

From Unearthed Comics

[1] Admittedly they are much more closely related to true bugs than they are to birds.

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