''Vibidia duodecimguttata'' is a species of

ladybird 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 ...

, subfamily

Coccinellinae Coccinellinae is a subfamily of lady beetles in the family Coccinellidae. There are at least 20 genera and 90 described species in Coccinellinae. Genera These 29 genera belong to the subfamily Coccinellinae: * '' Adalia'' Mulsant, 1846 * '' Aio ...

Distribution

This species is present in most of

Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a Continent#Subcontinents, subcontinent of Eurasia ...

, in the eastern

Palearctic realm 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 ...

, and in the

Near East The ''Near East''; he, המזרח הקרוב; arc, ܕܢܚܐ ܩܪܒ; fa, خاور نزدیک, Xāvar-e nazdik; tr, Yakın Doğu is a geographical term which roughly encompasses a transcontinental region in Western Asia, that was once the hist ...

Description

''Vibidia duodecimguttata'' can reach a length of about . These beetles have an oval shaped body. The light brown antennae are quite long. The elytra have a slightly wider side edge. Their entire body has a light brown basic color on the upper and lower side, only the eyes are black. Elytra show 12 whitish spots, six on each

elytron An elytron (; ; , ) is a modified, hardened forewing of beetles (Coleoptera), though a few of the true bugs (Hemiptera) such as the family Schizopteridae are extremely similar; in true bugs, the forewings are called hemelytra (sometimes alterna ...

(hence the

Latin Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power of the ...

word ', meaning twelve-spotted as if by drops). There is a whitish spot on both sides of the throat. This species is rather similar to '' Calvia decemguttata'' and ''

Halyzia sedecimguttata ''Halyzia sedecimguttata'', or orange ladybird, is a species of Coccinellidae (ladybirds) family. Distribution ''Halyzia sedecimguttata'' is common in Europe, European Russia, the Caucasus, Siberia, the Russian Far East, Belarus, Ukraine, Tran ...

''.

Biology

Adults can be encountered from April through September. This beetle is mycophagous,Nature en Ville à Cergy-Pontoise
/ref> mainly feeding on the

powdery mildew Powdery mildew is a fungal disease that affects a wide range of plants. Powdery mildew diseases are caused by many different species of ascomycete fungi in the order Erysiphales. Powdery mildew is one of the easier plant diseases to identify, as ...

fungus ('' Oidium''), diseases affecting some trees (including

oak An oak is a tree or shrub in the genus ''Quercus'' (; Latin "oak tree") of the beech family, Fagaceae. There are approximately 500 extant species of oaks. The common name "oak" also appears in the names of species in related genera, notably ''L ...

and

hazel The hazel (''Corylus'') is a genus of deciduous trees and large shrubs native to the temperate Northern Hemisphere. The genus is usually placed in the birch family Betulaceae,Germplasmgobills Information Network''Corylus''Rushforth, K. (1999). ...

Gallery

File: Vibidia duodecimguttata larva.jpg, Larva File:Vibidia duodecimguttata pupa.jpg, Pupa File:Vibidia duodecimguttata - La Pairelle.jpg, Imago

References

External links

Coleo-net
Coccinellidae Beetles of Europe Beetles described in 1761 Taxa named by Nikolaus Poda von Neuhaus {{Coccinellidae-stub