Scymnus interruptus
A tiny (1.5 to 2.2 mm), hairy ladybird. It is very distinctive, being black with a red triangle on each wing case which reaches the side of the wing case and even extend to the underside edge (the epipleuron). Some also show red around the face area. The legs are brown (c.f. Scymnus frontalis).
Scymnus frontalis
- 1.5-2.2mm
- black with red spots, largely triangular, towards the front of elytra and which reach the edges
- head black
- hairy
- red on the epipleuron
Unless identified by a recognised expert, good photos are required that show the key ID features. Also state the size in the comments box.
Hedges, bushes and shrubs, often in garden locations. Sometimes associated with ivy. Can be found by beating vegetation such as Ivy during winter.
All year round.
Food: mealybugs and armoured scale insects.
Believed to be a recent colonist, probably as a result of climate change. Its stronghold is the south east of England but it is extending its range further north.
Was rarely recorded in Leicestershire and Rutland, but now increasingly found so believed to have become established here.
Leicestershire & Rutland Map
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Coloured circles = NatureSpot records: 2025+ | 2020-2024 | pre-2020
UK Map
Species profile
- Species group:
- Beetles
- Kingdom:
- Animalia
- Order:
- Coleoptera
- Family:
- Coccinellidae
- Records on NatureSpot:
- 20
- First record:
- 12/04/2020 (Jones, Dick)
- Last record:
- 24/11/2024 (Pugh, Dylan)
Total records by month
% of records within its species group
10km squares with records
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