''Coccinella hieroglyphica'' is a species of

beetle Beetles are insects that form the order Coleoptera (), in the superorder Endopterygota. Their front pair of wings are hardened into wing-cases, elytra, distinguishing them from most other insects. The Coleoptera, with about 400,000 describ ...

in family

Coccinellidae 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 ...

. It is found in the

Palearctic The Palearctic or Palaearctic is the largest of the eight biogeographic realms of the Earth. It stretches across all of Eurasia north of the foothills of the Himalayas, and North Africa. The realm consists of several bioregions: the Euro-Sibe ...

. ''Coccinella hieroglyphica'' is found in Europe, European Russia, Siberia, the Russian Far East, Belarus, Ukraine, Kazakhstan, Mongolia, China, Korea. In Europe, in the north beyond the

Polar circle A polar circle is a geographic term for a conditional circular line (arc) referring either to the Arctic Circle or the Antarctic Circle. These are two of the keynote circles of latitude (parallels). On Earth, the Arctic Circle is currently ...

, in the south to Northern Italy. They live in heath and moorland habitats to heights of 1,200 meters, on different

Ericaceae The Ericaceae are a family of flowering plants, commonly known as the heath or heather family, found most commonly in acidic and infertile growing conditions. The family is large, with c.4250 known species spread across 124 genera, making it th ...

, feeding on

aphid Aphids are small sap-sucking insects and members of the superfamily Aphidoidea. Common names include greenfly and blackfly, although individuals within a species can vary widely in color. The group includes the fluffy white woolly aphids. A t ...

s. Other, less preferred, habitats are wet meadows, marshes, wastelands, and mixed forests. Other host plants are ''Pinus abies'' and other ''Pinus'' species and various ''

Betula A birch is a thin-leaved deciduous hardwood tree of the genus ''Betula'' (), in the family Betulaceae, which also includes alders, hazels, and hornbeams. It is closely related to the beech-oak family Fagaceae. The genus ''Betula'' contains 3 ...

'' species. Their populations vary greatly from year to year. They fly from May to October and overwinter in

coarse woody debris Coarse woody debris (CWD) or coarse woody habitat (CWH) refers to fallen dead trees and the remains of large branches on the ground in forests and in rivers or wetlands.Keddy, P.A. 2010. Wetland Ecology: Principles and Conservation (2nd edition). C ...

under pines and birches. In the former

USSR The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen nationa ...

, it is aphidophagous on ''

Salix Willows, also called sallows and osiers, from the genus ''Salix'', comprise around 400 speciesMabberley, D.J. 1997. The Plant Book, Cambridge University Press #2: Cambridge. of typically deciduous trees and shrubs, found primarily on moist so ...

'' species, birches, and on ''

Alnus Alders are trees comprising the genus ''Alnus'' in the birch family Betulaceae. The genus comprises about 35 species of monoecious trees and shrubs, a few reaching a large size, distributed throughout the north temperate zone with a few spec ...

'' and

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

lablokoff-Khnzorian, S. M. 1982. ''Les Coccinelles Coleopteres- Coccinellidae Tribu Coccinellini des regions Palearctique et Orientale''. Boubee. Paris. 568 pp. Coccinella hieroglyphica - Snamont2.jpg, Coccinella hieroglyphica - Snamont1.jpg,

References

Coccinellidae Beetles described in 1758 Taxa named by Carl Linnaeus {{Coccinellidae-stub