''Coccinella'' is the most familiar genus of

ladybird Coccinellidae () is a widespread family of small beetles. They are commonly known as ladybugs in North America and ladybirds in the United Kingdom; "lady" refers to mother Mary. Entomologists use the names ladybird beetles or lady beetles ...

(or, in

North America North America is a continent in the Northern Hemisphere, Northern and Western Hemisphere, Western hemispheres. North America is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the southeast by South Ameri ...

, ladybug). The

elytra An elytron (; ; : elytra, ) is a modified, hardened forewing of beetles (Coleoptera), though a few of the true bugs (Hemiptera) such as the family Schizopteridae are extremely similar; in true bugs, the forewings are called hemelytra (sometime ...

of most species are of a red or orange colour, punctuated with black spots or bands. The genus occurs throughout the

Northern Hemisphere The Northern Hemisphere is the half of Earth that is north of the equator. For other planets in the Solar System, north is defined by humans as being in the same celestial sphere, celestial hemisphere relative to the invariable plane of the Solar ...

, but has only 11 species native to

, with far more in

Eurasia Eurasia ( , ) is a continental area on Earth, comprising all of Europe and Asia. According to some geographers, Physical geography, physiographically, Eurasia is a single supercontinent. The concept of Europe and Asia as distinct continents d ...

. Its name comes from

Latin Latin ( or ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally spoken by the Latins (Italic tribe), Latins in Latium (now known as Lazio), the lower Tiber area aroun ...

''coccineus'', referring to the color scarlet. Adults and

larva A larva (; : larvae ) is a distinct juvenile form many animals undergo before metamorphosis into their next life stage. Animals with indirect development such as insects, some arachnids, amphibians, or cnidarians typically have a larval phase ...

e are voracious

predator Predation is a biological interaction in which one organism, the predator, kills and eats another organism, its prey. It is one of a family of common List of feeding behaviours, feeding behaviours that includes parasitism and micropredation ...

s of

aphid Aphids are small sap-sucking insects in the Taxonomic rank, family Aphididae. Common names include greenfly and blackfly, although individuals within a species can vary widely in color. The group includes the fluffy white Eriosomatinae, woolly ...

s, and some species (e.g. '' C. septempunctata'') are used as

biological control Biological control or biocontrol is a method of controlling pests, whether pest animals such as insects and mites, weeds, or pathogens affecting animals or plants by using other organisms. It relies on predation, parasitism, herbivory, or o ...

agents.

Coccinella

According to the

Global Biodiversity Information Facility The Global Biodiversity Information Facility (GBIF) is an international organisation that focuses on making scientific data on biodiversity available via the Internet using web services. The data are provided by many institutions from around th ...

, 94 individual species of Coccinella are listed in the genus. * '' Coccinella californica'' * '' Coccinella hieroglyphica'' * '' Coccinella leonina'' * '' Coccinella novemnotata'' * '' Coccinella magnifica'' * '' Coccinella monticola'' * '' Coccinella prolongata'' * '' Coccinella quinquepunctata'' * ''

Coccinella septempunctata ''Coccinella septempunctata'', the common ladybug, the seven-spot ladybird (or, in North America, seven-spotted ladybug or "C-7"), is a carnivorous beetle native to Europe, Africa and Eastern Asia. It has been introduced to North America and ca ...

'' * ''

Coccinella transversalis ''Coccinella transversalis'', commonly known as the transverse ladybird or transverse lady beetle, is a species of Coccinellidae, ladybird beetle found from India across southern and southeastern Asia to Malesia and Australia. It is not to be conf ...

'' * '' Coccinella transversoguttata'' * '' Coccinella trifasciata'' * '' Coccinella undecimpunctata'' Numerous other species, including '' C. ainu'', '' C. alta'', '' C. difficilis'', '' C. fulgida'' or '' C. hasegawai'' currently have no individual entries here.

References

External links

Photos of ''C. septempunctata'' consuming an aphid
Coccinellidae genera Beetles of Europe Insects used as insect pest control agents Biological pest control beetles Taxa named by Carl Linnaeus {{Coccinellidae-stub