''Hippodamia tredecimpunctata'', commonly known as the thirteen-spot ladybeetle, is a

species A species () is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of the appropriate sexes or mating types can produce fertile offspring, typically by sexual reproduction. It is the basic unit of Taxonomy (biology), ...

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

Description

Adult ''H. tredecimpunctata'' have domed backs, mainly oval, often shiny with short legs and antennae. They have two wing covers. They are usually red to orange in color. This species has thirteen dark or black spots. The

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 slightly flattened and covered with miniature spines. Very small eggs are laid in groups of 10–50 on the undersides of leaves.

Range

The species is distributed throughout much the northern hemisphere-Europe, North Africa, European Russia, the Caucasus, Siberia, the Russian Far East, Belarus, Ukraine, Moldova, Transcaucasia, Kazakhstan, Middle Asia, Western Asia, Afghanistan, Mongolia, China, the Korean Peninsula, Japan, North America. In North America, it can be found in Canada and the northern United States. The relative abundance of this species has decreased in many regions (midwestern US, Maine, Quebec, and New Brunswick) following the introduction of the non-native ladybeetle ''

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 ...

''. On the other hand, ''H. tredecimpunctata'' appears to coexist with non-native ladybeetles in Manitoba and Ontario.

Habitat

It is a stenotypic (limited habitat) species most associated with

wet meadow A wet meadow is a type of wetland with soils that are Solubility, saturated for part or all of the growing season which prevents the growth of trees and brush. Debate exists whether a wet meadow is a type of marsh or a completely separate type of ...

s, lakesides, flood plains and river deltas, marshes, and in marshes and marshy alder thickets, carr and

bodden Bodden are briny bodies of water often forming lagoons, along the southwestern shores of the Baltic Sea, primarily in Germany's state of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern. These lagoons can be found especially around the island of Rügen, Usedom and ...

on ''

Carex ''Carex'' is a vast genus of over 2,000 species of grass-like plants in the family (biology), family Cyperaceae, commonly known as sedges (or seg, in older books). Other members of the family Cyperaceae are also called sedges, however those of ge ...

'', ''

Sparganium ''Sparganium'' (bur-reed) is a genus of flowering plants, described as a genus by Linnaeus in 1753. It is widespread in wet areas in temperate regions of both the Northern and Southern Hemispheres. The plants are perennial marsh plants that ...

'', ''

Phragmites ''Phragmites'' () is a genus of four species of large perennial plant, perennial reed (plant), reed Poaceae, grasses found in wetlands throughout temperate and tropical regions of the world. Taxonomy The World Checklist of Selected Plant Famili ...

'', and on

Salix Willows, also called sallows and osiers, of the genus ''Salix'', comprise around 350 species (plus numerous hybrids) of typically deciduous trees and shrubs, found primarily on moist soils in cold and temperate regions. Most species are known ...

Biology

It feeds on '' Aphis farinosa'' and occurs on grasses and sedges associated with '' Sipha glyceriae'' and on

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 associated with

Gramineae Poaceae ( ), also called Gramineae ( ), is a large and nearly ubiquitous family of monocotyledonous flowering plants commonly known as grasses. It includes the cereal grasses, bamboos, the grasses of natural grassland and species cultivated i ...

Umbelliferae Apiaceae () or Umbelliferae is a family of mostly aromatic flowering plants named after the type genus '' Apium,'' and commonly known as the celery, carrot, or parsley family, or simply as umbellifers. It is the 16th-largest family of flowering ...

, and some other plants. It also feeds on

Erysiphales Erysiphales are an order of ascomycete fungi. The order contains one family, Erysiphaceae. Many of them cause plant diseases called powdery mildew. Systematics The order contains one family (Erysiphaceae), 28 genera and around 1000 species. Ma ...

on reeds, before the emergence of aphids.Savoiskaya, G.I., Coccinellid Larvae (Coleoptera, Coccinellidae) of the Fauna of the USSR (Nauka, Leningrad Branch, Leningrad, 1983) (''Keys to the Fauna of the USSR'', Published by the Zoological Institute of the Academy of Sciences of the USSR, No. 137)

n Russian N, or n, is the fourteenth letter of the Latin alphabet, used in the modern English alphabet, the alphabets of other western European languages, and others worldwide. Its name in English is ''en'' (pronounced ), plural ''ens''. History ...

It has also found on cane, rotten hay, detritus, and under peeled-off bark. Image:Hippodamia_tredecimpunctata_larva.jpg, Larva Image:Hippodamia_tredecimpunctata_02.jpg, Adult

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q1258267 Coccinellidae Insects used as insect pest control agents Biological pest control beetles Beetles described in 1758 Taxa named by Carl Linnaeus