Spotty

Seven-spotted Lady Beetle/Coccinella septempunctata, adult and late-stage larva. Widely introduced in the U.S. from Europe, where it’s one of the most common ladybug species, during the second half of the last century. They were introduced here to combat aphids, since it’s always war war war against the bugs. They’re all over North America now. This study in Canadian Entomologist found a relative decline in abundance of four other species of ladybugs after the appearance of this one. Here in the city, you’re much more likely to see this and the Asian Lady Beetle/Harmonia axyridis, also introduced because of bullshit aphid-phobia, than any lady beetle species that evolved here over millions of years. Meanwhile, New York State’s State Insect, the Nine-spotted Lady Beetle, has virtually disappeared.