The eighteen-spotted ladybird (''Myrrha octodecimguttata''), or 18-spot ladybird, is a species of
beetle in the
genus ''
Myrrha'' in the
ladybird
Coccinellidae () is a widespread family of small beetles ranging in size from . They are commonly known as ladybugs in North America and ladybirds in Great Britain. Some entomologists prefer the names ladybird beetles or lady beetles as they ...
family that lives primarily in
pine forests and mixed (deciduous/conifer) forests inhabiting the upper part of the canopy and feeding on aphids. They favour old
pines and breed in the crowns of pine trees in Germany ''M. octodecimguttata'' also occurs on high bogs (
West Siberian Plain ,
East Siberian taiga)
Adults overwinter in aggregations under peeled-off bark and in crevices at the bases of old pine trunks.
It is usually in length.
Distribution
Europe, North Africa. European Russia, the Caucasus, Siberia, the Russian Far East, Belarus, Ukraine, Transcaucasia, Kazakhstan, Western Asia, Mongolia.
[ Fauna Europaea]
References
Coccinellidae
Beetles of Europe
Beetles described in 1758
Taxa named by Carl Linnaeus
{{Coccinellidae-stub