Adalia bipunctata

Life-forms

Superregnum: Eukaryota
Regnum: Animalia
Subregnum: Eumetazoa
Cladus: Bilateria
Cladus: Nephrozoa
Cladus: Protostomia
Cladus: Ecdysozoa
Cladus: Panarthropoda
Phylum: Arthropoda
Subphylum: Hexapoda
Classis: Insecta
Cladus: Dicondylia
Subclassis: Pterygota
Ordo: Coleoptera
Subordo: Polyphaga
Infraordo: Cucujiformia
Superfamilia: Cucujoidea

Familia: Coccinellidae
Subfamilia: Coccinellinae
Tribus: Coccinellini
Genus: Adalia
Species: Adalia bipunctata
Subspecies (2): A. (A.) b. bipunctata – A. (A.) b. revelierei
Name

Adalia bipunctata (Linnaeus, 1758)
Original combination: Coccinella bipunctata

Synonyms

Coccinella pantherina Linnaeus, 1758
Coccinella sexpustulata Linnaeus, 1758
Coccinella quadrimaculata Scopoli, 1763
Coccinella annulata Voet, 1766
Coccinella cincta O.F. Müller, 1776
Coccinella octoguttata Sulzer, 1776
Coccinella unifasciata Fabricius, 1777
Coccinella tripunctata Roemer, 1789
Coccinella tripustulata Gmelin, 1790
Coccinella hastata Olivier, 1791
Coccinella dispar Schneider, 1792
Coccinella frigida Schneider, 1792
Coccinella arctica Thunberg, 1795
Coccinella varia Schrank, 1798
Coccinella hyperborea Paykull, 1799
Coccinella perforata Marsham, 1802
Coccinella septempustulata Marsham, 1802
Coccinella bisquadripustulata Haworth, 1812
Coccinella bistriverrucata Haworth, 1812
Coccinella quadripunctata Donovan, 1813
Coccinella bioculata Say, 1824
Coccinella humeralis Say, 1824
Coccinella fasciatopunctata Faldermann, 1835
Coccinella disjuncta Randall, 1838
Adalia ophthalmica Mulsant, 1850
Adalia stictica Mulsant, 1850
Coccinella melanopleura Le Conte, 1859
Adalia ludovicae Mulsant, 1866
Adalia revelierii Mulsant, 1866
Coccinella annectens Crotch, 1873
Adalia concolor Wimmel, 1894
Adalia ornatella Casey, 1899
Adalia ovipennis Casey, 1899
Adalia transversalis Casey, 1899
Adalia bipunctata var. similata Gabriel, 1905
Adalia coloradensis Casey, 1908
Arrowella porteri Brèthes, 1925

References

Linnaeus, C. 1758. Systema Naturae per regna tria naturæ, secundum classes, ordines, genera, species, cum characteribus, differentiis, synonymis, locis, Tomus I. Editio decima, reformata. Holmiæ: impensis direct. Laurentii Salvii. i–ii, 1–824 pp DOI: 10.5962/bhl.title.542: 364–365. Reference page.
Casey, T.L. 1899. A revision of the American Coccinellidae. Journal of the New York Entomological Society 7(2): 71–169. BHL Reference page.
Casey, T.L. 1908: Notes on the Coccinellidae. The Canadian Entomologist 40: 393–421. BHL
Kuschel, G. 1990: Beetles in a suburban environment: a New Zealand case study. DSIR Plant Protection report, (3) PDF

Links

Adalia bipunctata Taxon details on Fauna Europaea
ZooBank: act:2279D5C1-C303-44EF-B660-ADAB17A4DC1B
ITIS Standard Report Page: Adalia bipunctata
bipunctata Coleoptera Collection and Card Index - ADALIA bipunctata
Insecten van Europa > Soorten: Adalia bipunctata (Tweestippelig lieveheersbeestje)
Fauna Europaea : Taxon Details - Adalia (Adalia) bipunctata
Adalia bipunctata, Zweipunkt-Marienkäfer: Seitenportrait, Foto vom 09.10.2005
Adalia bipunctata
Adalia bipunctata (L., 1758) (Two-spot Ladybird)

Vernacular names
čeština: Slunéčko dvojtečné
Deutsch: Zweipunkt-Marienkäfer
English: two-spot ladybird, two-spotted ladybug, two-spotted lady beetle
español: mariquita de dos puntos
suomi: Kaksipistepirkko
français: Coccinelle à deux points
Gaeilge: Bóín Dé dhébhallach
magyar: Kétpettyes katicabogár
lietuvių: Dvitaškė adalija
latviešu: Divpunktu mārīte
Nederlands: Tweestippelig lieveheersbeestje
norsk nynorsk: Toprikka marihøne
norsk: Toprikket marihøne
polski: Biedronka dwukropka
русский: Двухточечная коровка
slovenčina: Lienka dvojbodková
svenska: Tvåprickig nyckelpiga

Adalia bipunctata, the two-spot ladybird, two-spotted ladybug or two-spotted lady beetle, is a carnivorous[1] beetle of the family Coccinellidae that is found throughout the holarctic region. It is very common in western and central Europe. It is also native to North America but it has heavily declined in many states and provinces. It is commonly introduced and imported as a biological control agent.

Taxonomy

The two-spotted ladybird was one of the many species originally described by Carl Linnaeus in his 1758 10th edition of Systema Naturae; its original name was Coccinella bipunctata.[2] Its specific name is from the Latin bi- "two", and punctata "spotted".[3]
Description

Adalia bipunctata is a small Coccinellid that can feature any one of a large selection of red and black forms. Some forms are similar to Mulsantina picta, but the two white spots on the head of Adalia (in contrast with a large white region or more than two spots) readily separate it. Additionally Adalia is entirely black on the ventral surface with black legs, which helps rule out any other options.

The two-spotted ladybird is highly variable in many parts of its native range. The most familiar form, form typica with two black spots on a red base, is common throughout. A melanistic form that is black with four or six red spots is uncommon, but not rare, while the truly melanistic form purpurea is exceedingly rare. In North America the species shows the most variation, with several forms that do not occur elsewhere including a spotless form, a four-banded form, a nine to twelve spotted form, and a "cross-hatched" form. In addition, there are intermediate forms such as form annulata, but they occur rarely.[4]
Prey

Two-spotted lady beetles feed on aphids and other small insects.[1][4][5] However, the sterile soldiers within colonies of aphids such as the gall-forming Pemphigus spyrothecae, can attempt to protect the aphid colony by fighting this species.
Life cycle

The two-spotted lady beetle's life cycle starts with eggs that are usually laid in clutches.[1][5] The larva hatches from the egg by biting a hole in it. The larva looks very different from an adult; it has an elongated, grey, soft body with six legs but no wings. They are cannibalistic. A larva goes through four larval stages: by eating it grows and at some point it sheds its old skin and appears in a new one in which it can grow more. The last larval stage is approximately the size of an adult beetle. Once it has eaten enough, the larva attaches itself to a substrate and moults into a pupa. Inside the pupa, the adult develops. Finally the adult ecloses from the pupa.

Sex ratio anomalies
Symbiosis

In some populations, the majority of the beetles are female. In these populations, 80-90% of the offspring are female. The cause of this anomaly is the presence of symbiotic bacteria living within the gametic cells of the female lady beetles. The bacterium is too large to live in the male gametes (sperm), so the bacterium can be transmitted to the next generation only through female gametes. When it ends up in a male, it will die when the male dies. Therefore, it kills most of the male embryos in the newly laid eggs. These dead embryos then serve as food for their sisters when they emerge from their eggs. This trait is associated with a variety of bacteria (Wolbachia,[6] Rickettsia,[7] and Spiroplasma[8]) which are present in between 0 and 20% of females, depending on locality.
Parasitism

The two-spot ladybird also carries a sexually transmitted infection in Central and Eastern Europe. The infection is an ectoparasitic mite Coccipolipus hippodamiae that transfers between male and female (and female and male) during copulation.[9] The infection sterilizes female two-spot ladybirds, and at some points of the year, up to 90% of adult two spots become infected.[10]
As biological control agent

A. bipunctata is used as a localised biological control agent against aphids in, for example, greenhouses. . The two-spotted lady beetle was introduced into Australia specifically as a biological control agent.[11]
References

"Two-spotted Lady Beetle Adalia bipunctata". eNature.com. Archived from the original on June 14, 2011. Retrieved February 14, 2009.
Linnaeus, C. (1758). Systema naturae per regna tria naturae, secundum classes, ordines, genera, species, cum characteribus, differentiis, synonymis, locis. Tomus I. Editio decima, reformata (in Latin). Holmiae. (Laurentii Salvii).
Simpson, D. P. (1979). Cassell's Latin Dictionary (5 ed.). London: Cassell Ltd. ISBN 0-304-52257-0.
"Adalia bipunctata (Linnaeus, 1758:364)". Discover Life. Retrieved February 14, 2009.
"Adalia bipunctata two-spotted lady beetle". Animal Diversity Web. University of Michigan. Archived from the original on June 8, 2012. Retrieved February 14, 2009.
Hurst, G.; Jiggins, F. M.; Graf von Der Schulenburg, J. H.; Bertrand, D.; et al. (1999). "Male killing Wolbachia in two species of insects". Proceedings of the Royal Society B. 266 (1420): 735–740. doi:10.1098/rspb.1999.0698. PMC 1689827.
Werren, J. H.; Hurst, G. D. D.; Zhang, W.; Breeuwer, J. A. J.; et al. (1994). "Rickettsial relative associated with male killing in the ladybird beetle (Adalia bipunctata)". Journal of Bacteriology. 176 (2): 388–394. doi:10.1128/JB.176.2.388-394.1994. PMC 205061. PMID 8288533.
Hurst, G. D. D.; Graf von der Schulenburg, J. H.; Majerus, T. M. O.; Bertrand, D.; Zakharov, I. A.; Baungaard, J.; Völkl, W.; Stouthamer, R. & Majerus, M. E. N. (January 31, 2003). "Invasion of one insect species, Adalia bipunctata, by two different male-killing bacteria". Insect Molecular Biology. 8 (1): 133–139. doi:10.1046/j.1365-2583.1999.810133.x. PMID 9927182. S2CID 45043757.
Hurst, G. D. D.; Sharpe, R. G.; Broomfield, A. H.; Walker, L. E.; Majerus, T. M. O.; Zakharov, I. A. & Majerus, M. E. N. (1995). "Sexually transmitted disease in a promiscuous insect, Adalia bipunctata". Ecological Entomology. 20: 230-236.
Webberley, K. M.; Buszko, J.; Isham, V. & Hurst, G. D. D. (2006). "Sexually transmitted disease epidemics in a natural insect population". Journal of Animal Ecology. 75 (1): 33-43: doi:10.1111/j.1365-2656.2005.01020.x
"Adalia bipunctata (Linnaeus)". www.ento.csiro.au CSIRO. 7 July 2005. Retrieved February 14, 2009.