''Coccinella undecimpunctata'', the eleven-spot ladybird or eleven-spotted lady beetle, it is native to central Asia, though commonly found in Europe, and formerly North America as its populations are decreasing.Smyth, R., Allee, L., & Losey, J. (2013). The status of ''Coccinella undecimpunctata'' (''L''.) (''Coleoptera'': ''Coccinellidae'') in North America: An updated distribution from citizen science data. ''Coleopterists Bulletin, 67''(4), 532-535. It is of the 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 ...

'', commonly referred to as ladybugs or lady beetles.

Description

''C. undecimpunctata'' is a lady beetle with eleven black spots found on its red/orange elytra. Its size can range from around 4.0 to 5.0m

It may look like this beetle has six spots on each elytron, however the black spot in the center of the elytra, just behind the pronotum, counts as just one.

Distribution

Endemic to 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 ...

- Europe, North Africa, European Russia, the Caucasus, Siberia, the Russian Far East, Ukraine, Moldova, Kazakhstan, Middle Asia, Western Asia, Afghanistan, Mongolia, China, Pakistan, North India. ''C. undecimpunctata'' has been introduced to

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

as a

biological control agent Biological control or biocontrol is a method of controlling pests, such as insects, mites, weeds, and plant diseases, using other organisms. It relies on predation, parasitism, herbivory, or other natural mechanisms, but typically also invo ...

. It has been said that ''C. undecimpunctata'' was introduced to

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...

as a form of pest control as well, however this has proven to be false. Coccinella_undecimpunctata_-_49225159101

Habitat and Diet

''C. undecimpunctata'' feeds on aphids associated with grasses - in fields, in ruderal biotopes, on

steppe In physical geography, a steppe () is an ecoregion characterized by grassland plains without trees apart from those near rivers and lakes. Steppe biomes may include: * the montane grasslands and shrublands biome * the temperate grasslands, ...

(including Pannonian steppe), stone quarries, wastelands, dry forest edges in meadows and coastal meadow, in open habitats with grasses, and near rivers. Frequently in biotopes with ''

Ammophila arenaria ''Ammophila arenaria'' is a species of grass in the family Poaceae. It is known by the common names marram grass and European beachgrass. It is one of two species of the genus ''Ammophila (Poaceae), Ammophila''. It is native to the coastlines of ...

'' it also occurs on alluvial soils, detritus, on dead grass and in biotopes with ''

Salix purpurea ''Salix purpurea'', the purple willow purpleosier willow or purple osier, is a species of willow native to most of Europe and western Asia north to the British Isles, Poland, and the Baltic States.Flora Europaea''Salix purpurea''/ref>Meikle, R. D ...

.'' It is salt resistant and can feed on aphids inhabiting ''

Atriplex tatarica ''Atriplex tatarica'' is a species of plant belonging to the family Amaranthaceae. Its native range spans a large area of Middle and western Central Asia, Asia Minor, North Africa, and Eastern Europe. Description ''Atriplex tatarica'' is an an ...

'' and other grasses associated with saline areas.

Biology

Reproduction

''C. undecimpunctata'' reproduces sexually, and has a tendency to

cannibalize Cannibalism is the act of consuming another individual of the same species as food. Cannibalism is a common ecological interaction in the animal kingdom and has been recorded in more than 1,500 species. Human cannibalism is well documented, b ...

other individuals/pairs eggs.Bayoumy, M., Abou-Elnaga, A., Ghanim, A., & Mashhoot, G. (2016). Egg cannibalism potential benefits for adult reproductive performance and offspring fitness of ''Coccinella undecimpunctata L''. (''Coleoptera'': ''Coccinellidae''). ''Egyptian Journal of Biological Pest Control, 26''(1), 35-42 They do this because it improves their own eggs viability, increases their fecundity, and decreases development time of remaining

offspring In biology, offspring are the young creation of living organisms, produced either by a single organism or, in the case of sexual reproduction, two organisms. Collective offspring may be known as a brood or progeny in a more general way. This ca ...

. However, these benefits depend on which sex is cannibalizing eggs— paternal cannibalization increases fecundity and egg viability, where maternal cannibalization only increases egg viability. If both parents cannibalize eggs, pupation and general developmental time decreases.

Disease

''Wolbachia''

'' Wolbachia'' is a genus of maternally inherited

bacteria Bacteria (; singular: bacterium) are ubiquitous, mostly free-living organisms often consisting of one biological cell. They constitute a large domain of prokaryotic microorganisms. Typically a few micrometres in length, bacteria were among ...

that infests mainly

arthropods Arthropods (, (gen. ποδός)) are invertebrate animals with an exoskeleton, a Segmentation (biology), segmented body, and paired jointed appendages. Arthropods form the phylum Arthropoda. They are distinguished by their jointed limbs and Arth ...

.Elnagdy, S., Messing, S., & Majerus, M. (2013). Two strains of male-killing ''Wolbachia'' in a ladybird, ''Coccinella undecimpunctata'', from a hot climate. ''PLOS ONE, 8''(1). This bacteria kills male offspring in the egg, favoring female offspring—If host eggs are exposed to a heat treatment, the bacteria dies and leaves no

molecular A molecule is a group of two or more atoms held together by attractive forces known as chemical bonds; depending on context, the term may or may not include ions which satisfy this criterion. In quantum physics, organic chemistry, and bioche ...

trace.

Relationship to Humans

As a form of pest control

Lady beetles are used as a form of pest control for various pests as well as by various modes, whether they be used within a house for hobby plants, in a garden for food, or for more industrial-like settings. Biological forms of pest control are used because they are less harmful than insecticides, which can have negative or even dangerous effects on the plant, beneficial insects, and even humans.Hameed, A., Saleem, H., Ahmad, S., Iqbal, J., Karar, H., & Amin, A. (2013). Predatory potential and life history characteristics of eleven spotted beetle, ''Coccinella undecimpunctata L''. reared on cotton mealybug, ''Phenacoccus solenopsis Tinsley''. ''Pakistan Journal of Zoology, 45''(6), 1555-1562. ''C. undecimpunctata'' has been proven to be an excellent measure of pest control for cotton mealybugs (''

Phenacoccus solenopsis ''Phenacoccus solenopsis'', the cotton mealybug or solenopsis mealybug, is a species of mealybug in the family Pseudococcidae. Having originated in North America, it has spread to other parts of the world and become a major pest of cotton crops ...

''), though females tend to eat more over their lifespan than males did. Another pest ''C. undecimpunctata'' has been known for being used as pest control for is aphids. Rather than just using the beetles as adults for pest control, it has been shown that they eat just under 1.5 times more in their fourth

instar An instar (, from the Latin '' īnstar'', "form", "likeness") is a developmental stage of arthropods, such as insects, between each moult (''ecdysis''), until sexual maturity is reached. Arthropods must shed the exoskeleton in order to grow or ass ...

than they do as adults.Cabral, S., Soares, A., & Garcia, P. (2009). Predation by ''Coccinella undecimpunctata L''. (''Coleoptera'': ''Coccinellidae'') on ''Myzus persicae'' ''Sulzer'' (''Homoptera'': ''Aphididae''): Effect of prey density. ''Biological Control, 50''(1), 25-29. It is best to release ''C. undecimpunctata'' populations when pest populations are low.

Insecticides

While some prefer to use biological pest control such as releasing

predators Predation is a biological interaction where one organism, the predator, kills and eats another organism, its prey. It is one of a family of common feeding behaviours that includes parasitism and micropredation (which usually do not kill the ...

into an area to get rid of pests, insecticides are still used widely. Sometimes biological pest control as well as chemical pest control are used simultaneously, or the natural

fauna Fauna is all of the animal life present in a particular region or time. The corresponding term for plants is ''flora'', and for fungi, it is '' funga''. Flora, fauna, funga and other forms of life are collectively referred to as '' biota''. Zoo ...

in the area are not accounted for when insecticides are used— chlorpyrifos,

deltamethrin Deltamethrin is a pyrethroid ester insecticide. Deltamethrin plays a key role in controlling malaria vectors, and is used in the manufacture of long-lasting insecticidal mosquito nets; however, resistance of mosquitos and bed bugs to deltamethrin ...

, and

spinosad Spinosad is an insecticide based on chemical compounds found in the bacterial species ''Saccharopolyspora spinosa''. The genus ''Saccharopolyspora'' was discovered in 1985 in isolates from crushed sugarcane. The bacteria produce yellowish-pink ae ...

are insecticides used on a common prey of ''C. undecimpunctata'', the cabbage aphid (''

Brevicoryne brassicae ''Brevicoryne brassicae'', commonly known as the cabbage aphid or cabbage aphis, is a destructive aphid (plant louse) native to Europe that is now found in many other areas of the world. The aphids feed on many varieties of produce, including ca ...

'')El-Hawary, F., Amr, E., & Farag, N. (2010). Impact of some insecticides on the predator, ''Coccinella undecimpunctata L''. (''Coleoptera'': ''Coccenillidae'') and its prey, ''Brevicoryne brassicae L''. (''Homoptera'': ''Aphididae'') under laboratory conditions. ''Egyptian Journal of Biological Pest Control, 20''(2), 149-153. While these insecticides are much more effective on the prey, ''B. brassicae'', both chlorpyrifos and spinosad were still much more unsafe for ''C. undecimpunctata'' than deltamethrin is. Other insecticides like

pirimicarb Pirimicarb is a selective carbamate insecticide used to control aphids on vegetable, cereal and orchard crops by inhibiting acetylcholinesterase activity but does not affect useful predators such as ladybirds that eat them. It was originally deve ...

and pymetrozine are recommended as they do not have significant impact on ''C. undecimpunctata'', where

buprofezin Buprofezin is an insecticide used for control of insect pests such as mealybugs, leafhoppers and whitefly Whiteflies are Hemipterans that typically feed on the undersides of plant leaves. They comprise the family Aleyrodidae, the only famil ...

, when sprayed on larvae, decreased survival rate to adulthood by 33%.Cabral, S., Garcia, P., & Soares, A. (2008). Effects of pirimicarb, buprofezin and pymetrozine on survival, development and reproduction of ''Coccinella undecimpunctata'' (''Coleoptera'' : ''Coccinellidae''). ''Biocontrol Science and Technology, 18''(3), 307-318.

References

Coccinellidae Beetles of Europe Beetles of New Zealand Beetles described in 1758 Taxa named by Carl Linnaeus {{Coccinellidae-stub