Learn the difference between the famous red insects and Asian lady beetles to know which one you might be seeing in your home. Just be sure it's ladybugs you're handling and not Asian lady beetles. Warning: This article contains a veterinarian's photo of lady beetles lodged in a dog's mouth.
Why the difference matters You probably know what a ladybug looks like and may have heard about the Asian lady beetle. A ladybug and an Asian lady beetle look similar, but ladybugs help control pests while Asian lady beetles are pests. Here's how to tell the two apart.
Asian lady beetles are infamous for their convincing ladybug disguise. The common invasive pest looks just like beneficial ladybugs. The "disguise" is so convincing that you might mistake a lady beetle for a ladybug, even if you know what to look for! If you really want to tell ladybugs and lady beetles apart, you have to get to know the telltale signs well.
The differences can be subtle, but. Discover the fascinating differences between ladybugs and beetles, from size and diet to habitat. Expert comparison of these remarkable insects from a wildlife perspective.
Asian lady beetles look almost identical to ladybugs in terms of their size and shape, but the differences between Asian beetles vs. ladybugs are easier to spot than you'd expect. Ladybugs might look alike at first glance, but not all of them are beneficial garden guests.
If you're looking at a potential invader and unsure if it's an Asian lady beetle vs. ladybug, your confusion is entirely valid. These two insects may share spots and bright colors, but their habits, impacts, and behaviors are very different bugs.
Native ladybugs - ahem, lady beetles - are beneficial, but their populations are decreasing, while the populations of non-native lady beetles are increasing, according to the Lost Ladybug Project, which aims to record lady beetle sightings across the United States as a way of tracking the presence of different species of lady beetles. We all love the adorable little ladybug. But how can we tell the native ladybug from the less desireable Asian lady beetle? As for the name of a type of beetle, that's recorded as being named from the 1670s, which of course is the earlier form of the word Ladybug.
According to an entry in StackExchange, the use of the first word was indeed Ladybird in the 1870s. Ladybug was used from around 1900, but both words have been in use since.