Subject: Any idea what bug these contain?
Location: Mie-ken, Japan
July 11, 2012 2:08 am
Hi there!
I found these little guys on the trees in my front garden this morning, and wondered if you have any idea what they are?
Signature: Mark in Japan
Twice stabbed Lady Beetles
Hi Mark,
These are beneficial insects. They are the adults and larvae of some species of Twice Stabbed Lady Beetle in the genus Chilocorus, and they feed on Scale Insects that can do damage to many types of plants. The closest match we could find was this image from FlickR of Chilocorus rubidus and that led us to this image on Zin.com. Since we do not read Japanese, we are not certain why the Twice Stabbed Lady Beetle is pictured on the Welcome to the Ichneumonid World web page. As an aside, according to BugGuide, one Japanese species and several other species from unknown locations belonging to this genus have been introduced to North America to control Scale Insects on agricultural crops.
Twice Stabbed Lady Beetle Larvae
Hi Daniel,
Wow, thank you so much for such a quick response. I’m really please they are good guys, because I was concerned as the larvae ‘pods’ look kind of sinister! The pods are all over one tree, and the Lady Beetles are all over the leaves on the tree next to it. It’s quite an infestation!
Thank you once again for your fast, informative and helpful response.
Best regards,
Mark.
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