Chilocorus renipustulatus (Scriba, 1791)

Taxonomy: Polyphaga > Cucujoidea > Coccinellidae > Chilocorus > Chilocorus renipustulatus

Common name: 

Kidney-spot Ladybird

Images

Chilocorus renipustulatus
Source:
Paul Mabbott
Chilocorus renipustulatus
Source:
Roger Key
Chilocorus renipustulatus
Source:
Lech Borowiec

Description

Length: 4 - 5mm.  Background colour: black.  Pattern colour: red spots.  Number of spots: 2. Spot fusions: none.  Melanic (black) forms: not applicable.  Pronotum: black.  Leg colour: black.  Other features: distinct rim around the edge of the elytra.

Fourth-instar larva: dark greyish-brown with distinctive long black bristles emerging from each tubercle; bristles bear extensive side-branches.  Pupa: uniformly black and shiny; larval skin encloses the lower part of the pupa. 

Biology

Habitats: This species is commonly found in deciduous woodland.  However, kidney-spot ladybirds have also been recorded from mixed woodlands, grasslands and scrub in the vicinity of deciduous trees.

Host plants: Most kidney-spot ladybird records are from the trunks of ash and sallow trees.  The species has also been recorded on a number of other deciduous trees including willow, oak, field maple, alder and birch, and also on Leyland cypress.    Kidney-spot ladybirds are not uncommon on apple trees and on herbaceous vegetation such as thistles and nettle.

Food: coccids.

Overwintering sites: Kidney-spot ladybirds overwinter in sheltered positions on deciduous trees, usually near the base.

Distribution (may take a minute to appear)