The twenty-eight spotted lady beetle is an East Asian lady beetle that eats plants, not insects, and is a leaf-eating pest of potatoes and other crops. It's a round beetle about 1/4 in (7 mm) long with 28 black spots on its back. It isn't found in the United States.
Appearance
- Appearance
- A domed beetle about 1/4–5/16 in (6.5–8 mm) long, with 28 black spots on the wing covers.
Look-alikes
Hadda BeetleHenosepilachna vigintioctopunctata
Both have 28 spots. This species is slightly larger (about 7 mm vs. 6 mm), with a more strongly domed back and bigger spots; photos often aren't enough to tell them apart.
Why they get mixed upA close relative from Asia with the same spot count and the same taste for potatoes and eggplant.
Where it lives
- Typical habitats
- Potato fields
- Vegetable gardens
- Range
- Native to East Asia: Japan, the Korean Peninsula, China, and the Russian Far East. It doesn't live in the US; the plant-eating lady beetle American gardeners know is the Mexican bean beetle.
Behavior
- Diet
- Both adults and larvae chew the leaves of potato, eggplant, tomato, and related plants.
Life cycle
- Caterpillar food plants
- Nightshade-family crops, especially potato and eggplant.
Conservation
- IUCN Red List
- NENot EvaluatedNot yet assessed
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