Four-Spotted Lady Beetle

Four-spotted lady beetle on a leaf
Scientific Name
Brachiacantha quadripunctata
Family
Coccinellidae (ladybird beetles) in the order Coleoptera (beetles)
Description

Not all Missouri lady beetles are red with black spots. The four-spotted lady beetle reverses the pattern. This is one of our native species.

Interestingly, a subspecies that occurs southeast of Missouri has yellow spots instead of red.

Learn more about this and other lady beetles (ladybugs) on their group page.

Other Common Names
Four-Spotted Ladybug
Media Gallery
Four-spotted lady beetle on a leaf
Not all Missouri lady beetles are red with black spots. This species, the four-spotted lady beetle (Brachiacantha quadripunctata), reverses the pattern.
Donna Brunet
Use of this image is restricted to MDC only
1/1
Four-spotted lady beetle on a leaf
Similar Species
About Land Invertebrates in Missouri
Invertebrates are animals without backbones, including earthworms, slugs, snails, and arthropods. Arthropods—invertebrates with “jointed legs” — are a group of invertebrates that includes crayfish, shrimp, millipedes, centipedes, mites, spiders, and insects. There may be as many as 10 million species of insects alive on earth today, and they probably constitute more than 90 percent all animal species.