Coccinella leonina facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Coccinella leonina |
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Coccinella
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C. leonina
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| Coccinella leonina (Fabricius, 1775)
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Coccinella leonina, also known as the orange-spotted ladybird, is a cool insect from New Zealand. It's a type of ladybird that stands out with its black body and bright orange spots. You can find it in many different places, and it's a helpful predator, meaning it hunts other small insects.
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What Does the Orange-Spotted Ladybird Look Like?
As its name suggests, the orange-spotted ladybird has 16 yellow or orange spots. It has a black body. Two squarish spots are found on its thorax, above the pronotum. The other 14 spots are on its black wing covers, called elytra. These spots are usually larger and have a small gap of black space between them. The exact shade of orange can be different on various beetles.
This ladybird also has a lighter patch above its eyes. Its legs and underside are black. Orange-spotted ladybirds are usually between 4.5 and 5.5 mm long. Their body is shaped like an oval, widest in the middle. Males and females have slightly different shaped abdomens. Females have a more rounded abdomen, while males have a flatter one. This ladybird is a medium-sized, round-shaped beetle.
Where Do Orange-Spotted Ladybirds Live?
Global Home: Only in New Zealand
The orange-spotted ladybird is endemic to New Zealand. This means it naturally lives only there and nowhere else in the world! It's the only species of the Coccinella genus that is native to the Australasia region.
Finding Them Across New Zealand
You can find orange-spotted ladybirds all over New Zealand's North Island and South Island. They are common in places like the Port Hills in Canterbury. They also live further south in areas like the Otago Plateau and Central Otago.
However, you won't find them in the northern parts of the mainland, such as Auckland, Coromandel, or Northland. But they do live on nearby offshore islands like Poor Knights Island, Hen Island, Chicken Islands, Mokohinau Islands, Great Barrier Island, Little Barrier Island, inner Hauraki Gulf islands, Mercury Island, Aldermen Island, and Mayor Island.
What Kind of Places Do They Like to Live In?
Orange-spotted ladybirds can live in many different places. They are found from high up in subalpine areas down to sea level. They are common wherever they live. You can spot them in tussock grasslands and in low-growing vegetation. They also live in native bush, pastures, and farm crops. They are very common in areas like Banks Peninsula.
The Life Cycle of a Ladybird
Orange-spotted ladybirds reproduce by mating. This process usually starts around September. Female ladybirds lay oval-shaped, yellow-orange eggs. They often lay them in a cluster on the underside of a leaf. How long it takes for the eggs to hatch depends on how warm it is. In the few days before hatching, the eggs turn a darker grey color. A female can lay up to 30 eggs per day, and between 1600 to 3800 eggs in her whole life!
Tiny larvae hatch from the eggs. They break out of the shell using sharp structures on the back of their head, called egg-busters. Ladybird larvae eat the same food as adult ladybirds. Their main goal during this stage is to eat a lot to grow bigger. To molt (shed their skin), a larva hangs upside down by its rear end. Its skin then splits down its back. Larvae molt several times. After their last molt, a pale, soft pupa appears. As the pupa gets older, it grows a hard, patterned case.
During the pupa stage, the ladybird's body changes a lot. Some parts break down and are used to build adult body parts, like wings and reproductive organs. This usually takes about four to ten days, but it can take longer if it's cold. When the adult beetle first comes out, its wing covers (elytra) are soft, dull, and pale. They don't have their bright pattern yet. It can take up to several months for the beetle to get its full adult look. After emerging, the adult will look for food, mate, or get ready to hibernate, depending on the time of year. An adult ladybird can live from a few months to over a year.
Ladybirds spend the winter as adults, hiding together in a safe, sheltered spot. In spring, the adults spread out to find food and good places to lay eggs. They usually choose spots near plenty of food.
What Do Orange-Spotted Ladybirds Eat?
The orange-spotted ladybird mainly eats aphids. This is common for most ladybird species. Adult ladybirds can eat around 100 aphids every day! They also enjoy eating other small insects like mites, mealybugs, and scale insects. Besides insects, they sometimes eat plant matter and even some fungi, like powdery mildews. Since they eat aphids, you'll often find them in places where aphids are common.
Who Are Their Enemies?
Like many other insects, birds are a main predator of the orange-spotted ladybird. Birds like the shining cuckoo and starlings often hunt them.
Another enemy is the harlequin ladybird, Harmonia axyridis. This ladybird is not native to New Zealand and has arrived recently. Harlequin ladybirds don't specifically hunt orange-spotted ladybirds. However, if they run out of their usual food, they will eat native ladybirds. Since harlequin ladybirds are much larger, they can easily overpower orange-spotted ladybirds and compete with them for food.
Other Interesting Facts
Another ladybird species in the same genus found in New Zealand is the eleven-spot ladybird, Coccinella undecimpunctata. This species was introduced to New Zealand. It looks quite different from the orange-spotted ladybird, but it's a similar size and lives in a similar ecological niche (role in the environment). Both species live in the South Island and the southern part of the North Island. However, in the northern North Island, only the introduced eleven-spot ladybird is found on the mainland. Interestingly, the orange-spotted ladybird is found on islands in those northern areas where it's missing from the mainland. This might be because of interspecific competition (competition between different species) on the mainland.
