Tortoise-shelled lady beetle
The tortoise-shelled lady beetle is a yellow or light orange ladybird with a black net pattern on its back. The pattern looks a bit like the shell of a tortoise. It is a little hunter that keeps plants free of aphids.
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Fun facts
When it first comes out of its pupa, it is all yellow. The black net pattern appears later.
Ones from New Guinea often have almost no net pattern, just a black line down the middle and a few small spots.
Its larva is brownish with creamy marks, and its pupa is orange yellow.
It has two black stripes across the part behind its head.
Most asked questions about Tortoise-shelled lady beetle
?What does the tortoise-shelled lady beetle eat?
It eats aphids and other small insects.
?Is the tortoise-shelled lady beetle harmful?
No. It is harmless to people and helps gardens by eating aphids.
For bug experts
- Scientific name
- Harmonia testudinaria
- Group
- Ladybirds
- Family
- Coccinellidae
- Classification
- Insecta > Coleoptera > Coccinellidae
- Lives on
- Australia and Oceania, Asia
- Also known as
- Tortoise-shelled ladybird
Where the facts come from
- Harmonia testudinaria (Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0): what it looks like, where it lives, what it eats, sizes and fun facts, retold in simple words.
- Picture by Toby Hudson. CC BY-SA 3.0 au, Wikimedia Commons. The sticker of this bug is drawn from this picture.
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