Ladybug - Coccinellidae

The ladybug is a beneficial beetle, as it eats other insects, like aphids that feed upon garden plants. It is not native to North America. But because it is such a beneficial insect, it was actually introduced to the United States, several times over. Harmonia axyridis, the "Multicolored Asian" was introduced as late as the 1980s and has since become the most populous in the mid-western states. It has succeeded to the point where it has actually become a bit of a nuisance. Like box elder bugs, they attempt to get inside houses to spend winters, leading homeowners to combat them as pests.

Ladybugs are orange or red with black markings. Some ladybugs have limited yellow markings as well. Ladybugs eat aphids in both their larval and adult stages. A single ladybug can eat over 5,000 aphids in its lifetime.