Adult: Body length 4 - 5mm.  Pronotum is white with black spots, a black M-mark or mainly black.  Very variable in colour pattern (background colour and spot number).  'Typical’ form (typica) is red with two black spots;  ‘four-spot melanic’ (quadripustulata) is black with four red spots ‘six-spot melanic’ (sexpustulata) is black. with six red spots. Leg colour is black (a good feature for distinguishing from 10-spot ladybird, which has brown legs). 

Fourth-instar larva:  closely resembles larva of 10-spot ladybird; 2-spot larva is dark grey (10-spot larva is pale grey) with a triangle of orange spots across the first and fourth abdominal segments; outer tubercles on abdominal segments five to eight are dark (pale in 10-spot); fine hairs projecting from tubercles.

Pupa: closely resembles pupa of 10-spot ladybird; 2-spot pupa has a black front section but otherwise cream with six rows of dark spots running longitudinally (10-spot pupa similar but with a paler overall appearance, two orange spots on edges of first abdominal segment and an orange patch in the middle of segments four to six).