Orange-spotted Ladybird - Parapriasus australasiae 

FAMILY COCCINELLIDAE

This page contains information and pictures about Steelblue Ladybird Beetles that we found in the Brisbane area, Queensland, Australia

Body length 5mm

 

 

 

We found this ladybird on a Citrus plant in Mt Coot-tha Botanic Garden on early Summer. Dan Papacek (Bugs for Bugs) kindly sent us email advised that this ladybird is probably the Parapriasus australasiae. This species seems to feed readily on the soft scale insects such as Black Scale Saissetia oleae and the close relatives.

 

 

 

This species seems to feed readily on the soft scale insects such as Black Scale Saissetia oleae and the close relatives. In the above pictures, the ladybird came to examine the Black Scale and encountered an ant. 

 

When the ladybirds hunt for scale insects, they will encounter different species of ants. Those ants come for the honey-dew from the scale insect. The ladybird helmet shape of wing-covers protect them those ants. They sit with legs and antenna hidden under the wing-covers. The ants just cannot do anything about them. 

 

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Reference:

1. Taxonomy of Coccinellids - Coccinellidae - Marienkäfer - Ladybirds, by Rudolf Christl, 2005. 

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Last updated: October 06, 2005.