Donegal Wildlife Database - Insects - Coccinellidae
Ladybirds are beneficial beetles as they eat aphids both as larvae and as adults. They can be seen in flight or on vegetation for most months of the year, but hibernate in the coldest months of the winter. They are mostly named after the number of spots on their wing cases, or elytra. The latin names can be extremely long, due to the latin form of the numbers, so they are commonly written with the number, rather than the full latin name.
One point worth noting is the size of the different species. Whilst the 7-Spot is just under 10mm, the others on this page are very much smaller - around 4 mm.
7-spot Ladybird - Coccinella 7-punctata
10-spot Ladybird - Adalia 10-punctata
14-Spot Ladybird - Propylea 14-punctata
Cream-spot Ladybird - Calvia 14-punctata
