Hippodamia quinquesignata

(Kirby, 1837)

five-spotted lady beetle, American five-spotted lady beetle

Species Guides

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Hippodamia quinquesignata is a of lady beetle in the Coccinellidae, commonly known as the five-spotted lady beetle or American five-spotted lady beetle. measure 4–7 mm in length. The species exhibits highly variable color patterning on the , with two recognized showing distinct morphological differences: subspecies quinquesignata often displays convergent pale spots on the pronotum, while subspecies ambigua is usually spotless. It is native to North America with a broad geographic range spanning from Prince Edward Island to Alaska and south to New Mexico and California.

Hippodamia quinquesignata quinquesignata by (c) Ken-ichi Ueda, some rights reserved (CC BY), uploaded by Ken-ichi Ueda. Used under a CC-BY license.Hippodamia quinquesignata by (c) Thilina Hettiarachchi, some rights reserved (CC BY), uploaded by Thilina Hettiarachchi. Used under a CC-BY license.Hippodamia quinquesignata by (c) Thilina Hettiarachchi, some rights reserved (CC BY), uploaded by Thilina Hettiarachchi. Used under a CC-BY license.

Pronunciation

How to pronounce Hippodamia quinquesignata: /ˌhɪpoʊˈdeɪmiə ˌkwɪŋkwiːsaɪɡˈnɑːtə/

These audio files are automatically generated. While they are not always 100% accurate, they are a good starting point.

Identification

Distinguished from other Hippodamia by the combination of small size (4–7 mm), highly variable elytral pattern, and pronotal markings when present. ambigua can be confused with other spotless lady beetles such as Cycloneda sanguinea, but occurs in western North America west of the Sierra Nevada. Subspecies quinquesignata overlaps with H. convergens in range but lacks the characteristic convergent white lines on the pronotum that give H. convergens its .

Images

Distribution

North America. quinquesignata: Prince Edward Island to Yukon Territory and Alaska, south to New Mexico and California. Subspecies ambigua: southern British Columbia to southern California, west of the Sierra Nevada. Also recorded from Vermont and Hawaii (non-native).

Similar Taxa

  • Hippodamia convergensOverlapping range; distinguished by H. convergens having prominent convergent white lines on pronotum versus variable spotting or absence of spots in H. quinquesignata
  • Cycloneda sanguineaBoth include spotless forms; C. sanguinea is a separate with different body shape and pronotal structure

More Details

Subspecies

Two recognized: H. q. quinquesignata (Kirby, 1837) and H. q. ambigua LeConte, 1852, distinguished primarily by pronotal and elytral pattern differences

Sources and further reading