Not all Missouri lady beetles are red with black spots. This species, the four-spotted lady beetle (Brachiacantha quadripunctata), reverses the pattern.
Donna Brunet
Four-Spotted Lady Beetle
Brachiacantha quadripunctata
Other Common Name:
Four-Spotted Ladybug
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.
Similar Species
Lady Beetles (Ladybird Beetles; Ladybugs)
Nearly 500 species in North America north of Mexico
V-Marked Lady Beetle
Neoharmonia venusta
Convergent Lady Beetle
Hippodamia convergens
Seven-Spotted Lady Beetle
Coccinella septempunctata
Asian Lady Beetle
Harmonia axyridis
Polished Lady Beetle
Cycloneda munda
Leaf Beetles
About 2,000 species in North America
Japanese Beetle
Popillia japonica
American Burying Beetle
Nicrophorus americanus
Swamp Milkweed Leaf Beetle
Labidomera clivicollis
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.