Eighteen-spotted ladybird explained

The eighteen-spotted ladybird (Myrrha octodecimguttata), or 18-spot ladybird, is a species of beetle in the genus Myrrha in the ladybird family that lives primarily in pine forests and mixed (deciduous/conifer) forests inhabiting the upper part of the canopy and feeding on aphids.^[1] They favour old pines and breed in the crowns of pine trees in Germany ^[2] M. octodecimguttata also occurs on high bogs (West Siberian Plain, East Siberian taiga)^[3] Adults overwinter in aggregations under peeled-off bark and in crevices at the bases of old pine trunks.^[4] It is usually 4mm5mm in length.^{[5] [6]}

Distribution

Europe, North Africa. European Russia, the Caucasus, Siberia, the Russian Far East, Belarus, Ukraine, Transcaucasia, Kazakhstan, Western Asia, Mongolia.^{[7] [8]}

Notes and References

1. lablokoff-Khnzorian, S. M. 1982. Les Coccinelles Coleopteres- Coccinellidae Tribu Coccinellini des regions Palearctique et Orientale. Boubee. Paris. 568 pp.
2. Klausnitzer, B. 1968. Zur Biologic von Myrrha octodecimguttata (L.) (Col. Coccinellidae). Entomol. Nachr. 12: 102-104.
3. Iablokoff-Khnzorian, S.M., A Review of the Family Coccinellidae (Coleoptera) of the Fauna of the USSR., Zoologicheskii Sbornik Instituta Zoologii Armyanskoi SSR. Yerevan 19, 94–161 (1983)
4. Koch, K., Die Käfer Mitteleuropas, Ökologie. Vol. 2 (Goecke und Evers Verlag, Krefeld, 1989)
5. Web site: Ladybirds of the UK. Ladybird-Survey.org . June 8, 2011 .
6. Web site: Ladybirds. Eakringbirds.com .
7. N. B. Nikitsky and А. S. Ukrainsky, 2016 The Ladybird Beetles (Coleoptera, Coccinellidae) of Moscow Province ISSN 0013-8738, Entomological Review, 2016, Vol. 96, No. 6, pp. 710–735 ISSN 0013-8738 online pdf
8. [Fauna Europaea]