ursine spurleg lady beetle

not listed

NNR - Unranked

not listed

Ursine spurleg lady beetle is a small lady beetle. It occurs across the United States and southern Canada.

The body is elongated oval when viewed from above, hemispherical when viewed from the side, ⅛″ to 3 ⁄16″ long (3 to 4.5 mm) long, and 1 ⁄16″ to ⅛″ (2.1 to 3.2 mm) wide.

The head is deeply inserted into the thorax, but is visible from above. On the male the head is black but the upper face (frons) is mostly yellow. The plate just above the mouth (clypeus) may be slightly darker or brown. On the female the head is yellow except for the clypeus, which is brown or black. The antennae have 11 segments. They are very short and club-shaped, thicker near the tip than at the base.

The upper thoracic plate (pronotum) is convex and wider than long. It is black with a large yellow to orange spot at each front corner. On the male it has a narrow yellow to orange front margin. The triangular plate (scutellum) between the bases of the hardened forewings (elytra) is small, triangular, and wider than long.

The elytra are strongly convex and very narrowly flattened at the margins. They completely cover the abdomen. They are black with five yellow to yellowish-orange spots on each elytron. They are shiny but are covered with fine pits (punctures) that make them look slightly dull. In our area (the Midwest) the spots sometimes converge, making the elytra mostly yellow to yellowish-orange.

The legs are yellowish-brown. The fourth segment (tibia) of the front legs has a spine that faces to the side. This is the feature that gives the beetle its common name. The tibia on the middle and hind legs has two spurs at the tip. The last part of each leg (tarsus), corresponding to the foot, has four segments, but the third segment is very short and tucked within the extended lobes of the second segment, making the leg appear to have only three segments. The tip of the last tarsal segment on the middle and hind legs has a pair of claws. Each claw has a large tooth at the base.

Total length: ⅛″ to 3 ⁄16″ (3 to 4.5 mm)

May to July

Scales (Coccidae) in the nests of ants.

Adults are often found on milkweed (Asclepias spp.)

Sources

24, 27, 29, 30, 82.

The term “ursine” means resembling a bear. This may have more to do with the imagination of the namer than to the appearance of the beetle.

Location: just west of Houston, MN

Location: Woodbury, Minnesota