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Asian Lady Beetle Photo © Kim Hosen
Above - Merrimac Farm Wildlife Management Area, Nokesville, VA; August 2010
Left - Dove's Landing, Manassas, VA; August 2008

Multicolored Asian Lady Beetle or Ladybug
Harmonia axyridisSuborder Polyphaga (Water, Rove, Scarab, Longhorn, Leaf and Snout Beetles)
Superfamily Cucujoidea (Flower, Flat Bark and Ladybird Beetles)
Family Coccinellidae (Lady Beetles)

Size: 5-8 mm (body length)

Food: Aphids, thrips, mites, scale insects, and eggs of butterflies and moths

Overwinters as adults, when they seek sheltered places to hibernate and often invade homes in large numbers

Introduced to North America for the biological control of aphids in the early 1900's. Asian Lady Beetles are still sold for aphid control. They are well established throughout North American and are often regarded as a nusiance species.