Exochomus quadripustulatus

Vierfleckiger ball ladybug ( Brumus quadripustulatus )

The Vierfleckige ball ladybug or Vierfleckige Scale Ladybugs ( Brumus quadripustulatus or Exochomus q. ) Is a beetle of the family of Ladybug ( Coccinellidae ).

Features

The beetles are three to five millimeters long, her body is broadly oval and convex. Your deck wings are black and have two each red, rarely yellow spots. The one near the shoulder has the shape of a horseshoe, or a mirror-inverted commas, the rear, close to the wing-coverts seam is smaller and flattened. The pronotum is also black, but may be lighter in color at the front corners same as the tibiae and tarsi. Their antennae have nine members and are very short.

Similar Species

• Exochomus nigromaculatus

Occurrence

The beetles are found throughout Europe to southern Norway and central Sweden and in Asia. They live mainly on conifers, especially on young pine, spruce, larch and juniper, but also on deciduous trees such as hawthorn, maple, and cascara.

Way of life

The beetles overwinter in the leaf litter in the moss and leaves.

Food

The adults and larvae of Vierfleckigen ball ladybugs feed on aphids and shield. The beetles eat sometimes their own larvae.