Scymnus interruptus

Alternative names
Red-flanked Ladybird
Description

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). 

Similar Species

Scymnus frontalis

Identification difficulty
ID checklist (your specimen should have all of these features)
  • 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
Recording advice

Unless identified by a recognised expert, good photos are required that show the key ID features. Also state the size in the comments box.

Habitat

Hedges, bushes and shrubs, often in garden locations. Sometimes associated with ivy. Can be found by beating vegetation such as Ivy during winter.

When to see it

All year round.

Life History

Food: mealybugs and armoured scale insects.

UK Status

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.

VC55 Status

Was rarely recorded in Leicestershire and Rutland, but now increasingly found so believed to have become established here.

Leicestershire & Rutland Map

MAP KEY:

Yellow squares = NBN records (all known data)
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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