Fact file

Two spot ladybird

Common names: two spot ladybird, two point ladybug or two-spotted lady beetle.

 Scientific name: Adalia bipunctata.

The four life stages of a two spot ladybird: ovum, larva, pupa and dark form imago.

Order: Coleoptera (all ladybirds are beetles).

Appearance:  medium sized for a  ladybird, usually red with two black spots on the wing cases.

Distribution: found throughout the Northern Hemisphere. Common in central Europe

Habitat: a wide variety of habitats, including parks, nature reserves and gardens. The adults hibernate over winter under the bark of a tree, or sometimes in houses, congregating in large numbers.

Diet: carnivorous. They and their larvae hunter aphids and are often used in pest control.

Conservation status: common but numbers have fallen recently, partially due to predation by and competition with the alien harlequin ladybird (Harmonia axyridis).

DYK: how confusing identifying two spot ladybirds can be? Their most common form is red with two black spots, but they can have up to sixteen spots. Further north, they can be  black with four red spots (black helps retain warmth) and to make matters worse, the ten-spot and harlequin ladybird can also have two spots.