Spot Distribution of Ladybug Elytra

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Spot Distribution of Ladybug Elytra

• Pamela Daep and Emily Roberts
• Bellarmine University
• Louisville, KY

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Introduction

• Small, domed, oval-shaped winged insects
• 4-5,000 species 350 found in U.S.
• They are usually red or yellow w/ black spots or
  black w/ red or yellow spots
• Bright colors are a warning to predators
• Common species are the 2-spotted and the Asian
  multicolored ladybug

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Anatomy

• Head is concealed from above and small
• Six legs
• Wings are covered by Elytra, a modified wing
• Head, Thorax Abdomen

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Classification

• Kingdom Animalia
• Phylum Arthropoda
• Class Insecta
• Order Uniramia
• Family Coleoptera
• Genus Coccinellidae

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Species

• Convergent Lady beetle Hippodamia convergens
  Guerin
• Fifteenspotted Lady beetle Anatis labiculata
  (Say)
• Ninespotted Lady beetle Hippodamia sinuata Muls.
  
• Spotted Lady beetle Coleomegilla maculata DeG.
• Twicestabbed Lady beetle Chilocorus stigma Say
• Twospotted Lady beetle Adalia bipunctata (L.)
• Red Lady beetle Cycloneda munda (Say)
• Sevenspotted Lady beetle Coccinella
  septempunctata (L.)
• Asian Lady beetle Harmonia Axyridis

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Life Cycle

• After hibernation ladybugs find food
• Females mate and lay yellow eggs
• Hatch 3-5 days
• Egg larva pupa adult
• Ladybugs may live 2-3 years

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Finding Food

• Eat aphids and other soft-scaled insects
• 300 aphids eaten before they lay eggs
• More than 5,000 aphids eaten in lifetime
• Poor eyesight, bump and eat method
• Adults are fairly resistant to starvation

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Aggregation

• During fall, few to several hundred will gather
  to hibernate
• Usually under leaves, base of tree, or under
  rocks
• Some congregate in and around buildings
• This is how we found our species sample

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Our Experiment

• Collected 144 ladybugs from Brown Library
• Counted spots on both left and right elytra
• Determine if there is a correlation

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Data
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Results

• Chi Square Test
• chi square 3.64
• degrees freedom 9
• probability gt 25
• fit good
• Correlation Coefficient
• 0.969

• Average number L
• 5.96 /- 3.19
• Average number R
• 5.99 /- 3.14
• Total Average
• 11.96 /- 6.28

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References

• 11/2000, www.enchantedlearning.com
• 11/2000, Lady Beetles, William F. Lyon, Cornell
  University, www.nysaes.cornell.edu/ent/biocontrol/
  predators/hippodamia.html
• Hoffmann, M.P. and Frodsham, A.C. (1993) Natural
  Enemies of Vegetable Insect Pests. Cooperative
  Extension, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY. 63 pp.
• Beers, E.H., Brunner, J.F., Willett, M.J., and
  Warner, G.M. (1993) Orchard Pest Management A
  Resource Book for the Pacific Northwest. Good
  Fruit Grower, YakiDma, WA. 276 pp.
• 12/2000, Dr. Robert Korn

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Merry Christmas