LADYBIRD, LADYBIRD, FLY AWAY HOME....

Friday, October 14, 2011

Identification of a Coccinellid

When it comes to the taxonomic identification of coccinellid, one would figure how on earth he can tell the difference between one species and another. The same thing goes to me when I first time handled a beetle not knowing whether it was a coccinellid or otherwise especially those which are not regarded as 'ladybird'. Therefore, scientists have come up with few morphological characteristics to define and distinguish a coccinellid from other beetle.

Morphological Characteristics

A. Body shape : rounded or oval, dorsally convex (dome-shaped), nearly flat on the ventral
(bottom)

B. Pronotum : often conceals the head from the above, and may be look like a head.

C. Antennae : short or very short with 8-11 segments; last 3-6 segments form a weak club.

D. Tarsal formula : 4-4-4 but appears 3-3-3. In other words, each lower leg appears to have
three segments.

E. First abdominal sternite : entirely not divided by hind coxae (charactersitic of suborder
polyphaga of the Coleoptera)

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Notes

Cheeky Ladybirds....