The hadda beetle is a plant-eating lady beetle: instead of hunting aphids, it chews the leaves of potatoes, eggplants, and other crops. It lives in warm parts of Asia and Australia and has been introduced to New Zealand and South America, but it is not known to occur in the United States. It is also called the 28-spotted potato ladybird.
Appearance
- Appearance
- About 1/4 in (6–7 mm) long and dome-shaped, tan to reddish brown with 28 black spots on the wing covers. A coat of short gray hairs gives it a dull look, unlike the shiny beneficial lady beetles.
Look-alikes
Asian lady beetleHarmonia axyridis
The Asian lady beetle is smooth and shiny. The hadda beetle is covered in fine hairs and looks dull.
Why they get mixed upBoth are round, spotted lady beetles.
Where it lives
- Typical habitats
- farm fields
- vegetable gardens
- Range
- Native to southern and southeastern Asia, especially India, ranging north to southern Japan and south to New Guinea and Australia. It has been introduced to New Zealand, Brazil, and Argentina. It is not known to occur in the United States.
Behavior
- Diet
- Adults and larvae eat the leaves of potato, eggplant, and other nightshade plants; pumpkin, beans, and other crops are also reported. Larvae scrape the leaf undersides, leaving thin, see-through patches.
Life cycle
- Reproduction
- Eggs are laid in groups on leaf undersides.
- Larva
- The larvae are whitish and spindle-shaped, covered with branched spines.
Name and classification
- About the name
- Formerly placed in the genus Epilachna. Some researchers treat it as a complex of very similar species that are hard to tell apart.
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