Twenty Eight Spot Ladybird Beetle

Description:

Most ladybirds are beneficial to the garden, but Twenty Eight Spot Ladybirds can be leaf eating pests. They are orange with 13 black spots on each wing cover. ( That only makes 26 spots - so where are the other two spots? - there seem to be more than two on the thorax?) They are fairly large ladybirds The larvae are yellow with stiff dark hairs Size: 8mm

Notes:

Food: These ladybirds are common pests of plants in the Solanaceae family (Potatoes, tomatoes etc.) such as potatoes and eggplants, but also attack pumpkins, rock melons and other vegetable crops. Breeding: Twenty Eight Spot Ladybirds lay a cluster of tall pointed yellow eggs on the underside of a leaf of a food plant. The larvae pupate on the underside of a leaf.