California lady beetle
Coccinella californica
The California lady beetle is a ladybird with shiny red wing cases. Unlike many ladybirds, it usually has no spots at all. Its head is black with two pale spots.
Lives in
Only in California, in the coastal counties north of the Transverse Ranges
Length
5.1 to 6.8 mm (0.2 to 0.27 in)
Can it hurt you?
Harmless
Harmless. Ladybirds are friends of gardeners.
What does it eat?
Like its ladybird cousins, it eats aphids and other tiny plant-sucking insects.
How big is it?
How long is it?
💅small enough to sit on your fingernail⚽could fly across a whole football pitch in 12 seconds⚡moves 1300 times its own body length every second
How big is California lady beetle compared to YOU?
Just maths in your browser. Nothing is saved or sent anywhere.
How fast is it?
A kid running fast about 13 km/h (8.1 mph)
A grown-up on a bike about 25 km/h (16 mph)
California lady beetle about 32 km/h (20 mph)
A car driving in town about 50 km/h (31 mph)
cool stuff
Fun facts
1
Its red wing cases are usually completely spotless.
2
It lives only along part of the California coast and nowhere else in the world.
3
The part behind its head is mostly black, with small pale spots.
you asked
Most asked questions about California lady beetle
?Does the California lady beetle have spots?
Usually not. Its red wing cases are most often plain, with no spots.
?How big is the California lady beetle?
About 5 to 7 millimetres long.
For bug experts
- Scientific name
- Coccinella californica
- Group
- Ladybirds
- Family
- Coccinellidae
- Classification
- Insecta > Coleoptera > Coccinellidae
- Lives on
- North America
Where the facts come from
- Coccinella californica (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 Kiloueka. CC0, Wikimedia Commons. The sticker of this bug is drawn from this picture.
If we got something wrong, sorry, we are bug fans, not a science journal. Tell us at [email protected] and we will fix it.
Bug Wiki honey jar For grown-ups: Bug Wiki is free, with no ads and no tracking. A small tip helps keep it online.Leave a tip
Seven-spot ladybird
Harlequin ladybird
Mealybug destroyer
Twenty-two-spot ladybird
Twice-stabbed ladybird
Spotted pink ladybird
Lesser grass blue
Citron bug
Iberian scarce swallowtail
Spined assassin bug
European pepper moth
Turf running spider.jpg){kind=link}