Ladybugs Part I: identification

So last week (now several months ago) one of my friends in Nebraska called and left a message saying that he had an insect problem and asked that I call when I get a chance. I returned his call and left a message letting him know that if he needs and id then he needs to send me a photograph or a dead carapace but if he had a question he could call me back and ask. After some phone-tag Shane and I finally connect. He told me that he has a problem with what he thinks are Multicolored Asian Lady Beetles (MALB, Harmonia axyridis) in his basement but that they are moving upstairs to the upper levels and he wanted to know how to get rid of them.

As any extension agent or fellow entomologist SHOULD tell you, the first thing you need to do is make sure that you have properly identified the pest. In order to do this, you need to have a key that aids you in identifying the insect pest. For identification, the first thing is to be able to recognize a beetle (order Coleoptera) from other insect orders.

NOTE: if you click on the links you will go to the page where I obtained the photo and you can find additional information and products on these pages.

Different insect orders

How to ID Beetle body parts

Note- you may need to go to the site in order to read the captions and see which parts are where in order to use the below Lady bird beetle "key"; "wing cases" are the elytra which is the hard wing that protects the membranous flight wings which are located underneath the elytra (key coleoptera characteristic)

The second part of identification is how to determine a MALB from other lady bugs (Family Coccinellidae), here I provide adult descriptions only:

Seven Spotted Lady Beetle, Coccinella septempuncta (Linnaeus)
Convex and oval shaped; tan, red, or black with contrasting yellow, white, black or red spots

Pinkspotted Lady Beetle, C-mac, Coleomegilla maculata (DeGeer)
Pink with black spots

Twice Stabbed Lady Beetle, Chilocous stigmata (Say)
Round elytral spots near the middle of each wing cover

Chilocorus bivulners (Mulsant)
Large elytral spots placed next to the pronotum- sorry I couldn't find a photo for this lady "bug"

Convergent Lady Beetle, Hippodamia convergens (Guerin-Menville)
Shiny black thorax with light yellow markings; two, long, narrow white marks converging on the pronotum

Two Spotted Lady Beetle, Adalia bipunctata (Linnaeus)
Each elytra has a single, round black spot; M shape on the pronotum; and the pronotum has a yellow border

Multicolored Asian Lady Beetle, MALB, Harmonia axyridis (Pallus)
Several spots which fuse on the white pronotum into an M shape

References:
Pedigo, L.P., and Rice, M.E. 2006. Entomology and Pest Management, 5th Edition. Pearson Education, Inc., Upper Saddle River, New Jersey, U.S.A. (Pages 116-117, 319, 439)

Salsbury, G.P., and White, S.C.2000. Insects in Kansas. US Department of Agriculture. (Pages 208-210)