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Project Noah Nature School
Chilocorus sp
My daughter and I were out "spotting" in the yard when she caught glimpse of these which had just shed their last instar exoskeletons. There were about 10 of them. The were on hibiscus leaves.
Tropical dry forest in NW Costa Rica 7 weeks into the rainy season.
Good luck finding the beetles! And there's always next year to find more of them - I've waited years to get good pictures of insects that I missed out on. I'll definitely get a cheesesteak in your honor too ;)
I'll see what I can do. With some luck they are still in the general vicinity but many days have passed. I see you are a "Philly" girls. I spent some formative years in Newtown, Bucks County and worked for many years in Kensington. Do me a favor and eat a cheesesteak in my honor sometime soon!
Thanks! The underside of Chilocorus lady beetles is an important feature for identification. I may not be able to ID it even with that photo, but it will narrow down the options and hopefully I'll be able to tell you the species!
I can't identify the species from this photo alone, and there aren't many resources on Costa Rican coccinellids that I can find online. If you can find them again, can you take a photo of the underside? (If the beetles don't want to lie on their backs, chill them for 5-10 minutes - it won't harm them, and they will stay still upside-down for a photo.)
Spotted on Jun 10, 2012
Submitted on Jun 15, 2012
