''Propylea quatuordecimpunctata'' is a small

lady beetle 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 ...

, belonging to 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 ...

. It is sometimes referred to by the

common name In biology, a common name of a taxon or organism (also known as a vernacular name, English name, colloquial name, country name, popular name, or farmer's name) is a name that is based on the normal language of everyday life; and is often contrast ...

14-spotted ladybird beetle, or simply P-14.

Varieties

Varieties include: * ''Propylea quatuordecimpunctata'' var. ''suturalis'' Weise, 1879 * ''Propylea quatuordecimpunctata'' var. ''weisei'' Mader, 1931 * ''Propylea quatuordecimpunctata'' var. ''pedemontana'' Della Beffa, 1913 * ''Propylea quatuordecimpunctata'' var. ''frivaldskyi'' Sajo, 1882 * ''Propylea quatuordecimpunctata'' var. ''pannonica'' Sajo, 1882 * ''Propylea quatuordecimpunctata'' var. ''moravica'' Walter, 1882 * ''Propylea quatuordecimpunctata'' var. ''perlata'' Weise, 1879

Description

The beetles are 3.5 to 4.5 millimeters long, They have a great variety of color forms: well over 100 color and pattern variations. Some of these color forms differ to the extent that at first they were thought to be separate species. The background coloration ranges from cream through yellow to light orange, but not red. Usually there are 14 black, almost rectangular spots on the elytra, but only rarely are all of these spots separate from one another. Most commonly, several of the spots are fused into larger markings, particularly along the midline, where they often create a shape resembling an anchor, sometimes fusing to such an extent that the yellow disappears almost completely, rendering the body almost entirely black except for 12 pale yellow spots. The pronotum is whitish or pale yellow, with four to eight black spots. The antennae and legs are yellowish-brown.

Distribution

This species is native and widespread 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 ...

north to the Arctic Circle. It is a common species in Europe, North Africa, Cyprus, European Russia, the Caucasus, Siberia, the Russian Far East, Belarus, Ukraine, Moldova, Transcaucasia, Kazakhstan, Western Asia, Pakistan, Mongolia, temperate China (

Tarim Basin deciduous forests and steppe The Tarim Basin deciduous forests and steppe is a temperate broadleaf and mixed forests ecoregion in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region of western China. The ecoregion includes deciduous riparian forests and steppes sustained by the region's r ...

), Korea and Japan. The species is adventive and widespread in North America (southeastern Canada to the Great Lakes and Florida), and is still spreading. The initial introductions of this species in the United States were intended as a controlling agent for the Russian wheat aphid (Hoebeke 2019).

Habitat

These beetles live in numerous different habitats, from lowlands to subalpine areas ( Prealps), and Western European broadleaf forests, mixed forests and meadows, as well as in fields, forests, and other Life zones of central Europe. They can be found in gardens and parks, on grasses and herbaceous plants, in bushes, and trees. In addition the species can be found in forest litter, on brushwood, on coarse woody debris, in moss, in straw in sheds, in detritus and alluvial soil, in rotten plant residues, and also in compost.

Biology

''Propylea 14-punctata'' is entomophagous (insect-eating). It feeds on aphids,

Aleyrodidae Whiteflies are Hemipterans that typically feed on the undersides of plant leaves. They comprise the family Aleyrodidae, the only family in the superfamily Aleyrodoidea. More than 1550 species have been described. Description and taxonomy The A ...

, Coccoidea, and on the larvae and eggs of some beetles and butterfliesDyadechko, N.P., ''The Coccinellidae of the Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic'' (Academy of Sciences of the Ukrainian SSR, Kiev, 1954)

n Russian N, or n, is the fourteenth letter in 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 ...

The females lay about 400 eggs; this is necessary as there is often a high mortality among the larvae. The adult beetles overwinter twice.

Gallery

File:Coccinellidae - Propylea quatuordecimpunctata (mating).JPG, Two different variants mating File:Propylea quatuordecimpunctata larva.jpg, Larva File:Propylea quatuordecimpunctata. larva.jpg, Larva File:Propylea.quatuordecimpunctata.7363.jpg, Dark variant File:14-spot ladybird (Propylea quatuordecimpunctata).jpg, Yellow variant File:Propylea.14-punctata.1.jpg, Light variant

References

External links

* * * Poorani J. (2004) �
Annotated Checklist of the Coccinellidae (Coleoptera) of the Indian Subregion
* Helgard Reichholf-Riehm: ''Insekten''. Orbis, München 1984. * Harde, Severa: ''Der Kosmos Käferführer, Die mitteleuropäischen Käfer'', Franckh-Kosmos Verlags-GmbH & Co, Stuttgart 2000, * Jiři Zahradnik, Irmgard Jung, Dieter Jung et al.: ''Käfer Mittel- und Nordwesteuropas.'' Parey, Berlin 1985, Coccinellidae Articles containing video clips Beetles described in 1758 Beetles of Asia Beetles of Europe Beetles of North Africa Taxa named by Carl Linnaeus {{Coccinellidae-stub