Coccinellidae
About 50 species although this includes several only occasionally recorded. 1-10mm. Usually round oval and convex, many are brightly coloured and patterned, some being very variable e.g. Adalia bipunctata, A.decimpunctata. Antennae short and clubbed, inserted close to inner margins of eye. Terminal segment of maxillary palpi triangular. Eyes and mandibles large. Head partly covered by pronotum although it can be retracted when alarmed. Legs of short or medium length with apparently three segmented tarsi, actually four segmented but the third is small and difficult to see as it lies at the base of the large second segment lobes. The genus Nephus has truly three segmented tarsi. Many species are widespread although in general more common in the south. Some are restricted by host plant occurrence e.g. Larch and Pine, or habitat preference e.g. Anisostictus novemdecimpunctatus (Water Ladybird). Most species are carniverous and generally feed on aphids. Subcoccinella is vegetarian on a range of herbaceous plants. Psyllobora, Tytthaspis and Halyzia are mildew feeders. For excellent accounts of the biology and ecology of this family see Majerus. Although the colour and markings vary both within and between species, members of the Coccinellinae are usually recognisable as 'Ladybirds' but there are other forms within the family that might not be quite so instantly obvious. Apart from being pubescent our two members of Epilachninae are very obviously 'Ladybirds' Coccidulinae includes four distinctive species in two genera; Rhizobius and Coccidula. With the exception of Rhizobius chrysomeloides (Hbst.) which was added to the British list in 1999 ¹ they are widespread and common. Scymninae includes 17 British species in 5 genera. These are characterized by the antennae being short, about as long as the tarsi, and for this reason they are often not set. With the exception of Hyperaspis pseudopustulata Mulsant, a widespread and sometimes common woodland insect, they are all pubescent, much more so than our two Epilachninae. Clitostethus arcuatus (Rossi) is a tiny (<1.5mm) black beetle with lighter marks near the pronotal margins and elytral apices. It is a very local and rare insect of southern english woodland. Our eleven species of Scymnus (1.2-2.3mm) are characterized by their 4 segmented tarsi. Many are widespread and several are common. Stethonus punctillum (Weise) is widespread in southern England in woodland and orchards. It is small, 1.2-1.6mm, black beetle with yellow or brown appendages, strongly rounded and very convex, almost hemispherical. Our three species of Nephus, like Stethorus, have three segmented tarsi but these beetles are distinctly elongate. They are all small, (1.5-1.8mm), black species, N.bisignatus (Boh.) has indistinctly lighter elytral markings while N.quadrimaculatus (Hbst.) and N.redtenbacheri (Muls.) have distinct yellow macula. N.bisignatus is known only from a few south east coast specimens. N.quadrimaculatus is a rare Kent and East Anglian species, and N.redtenbacheri is widespread and locally common on grassland. Chilocorinae are distinctive, the subfamily includes Chilocorus, Exochomus and Platynaspis, P.luteorubra (Goeze) is pubescent, black with two red marks on each elytron. It is rare and local in southern England among low growing vegetation or under bark in winter. Majerus and Kearns is the most recent British key and includes a key to larvae. Earlier keys e.g Pope, 1953 or Joy are useful but there have been many changes so care must be exercised. The Majerus key does not include the Harlequin or the Bryony ladybirds. ¹ Menzies,I. 1999. Br.J.Ent.Nat.Hist. 12:176
Coccidulinae
Clitostethus arcuatus
Coccidula rufa
Coccidula scutellata	Coccidula scutellata	Coccidula scutellata
Nephus quadrimaculatus
Rhyzobius chrysomeloides	Rhyzobius chrysomeloides	Rhyzobius chrysomeloides	Rhyzobius chrysomeloides
Rhyzobius litura	Rhyzobius litura	Rhyzobius litura	Rhyzobius litura	Rhyzobius litura
Coccinellinae
Adalia bipunctata	Adalia bipunctata	Adalia bipunctata	Adalia bipunctata	Adalia bipunctata
Adalia decimpunctata	Adalia decimpunctata	Adalia decimpunctata	Adalia decimpunctata	Adalia decimpunctata
Anatis ocellata
Anisosticta novemdecimpunctata	Anisosticta novemdecimpunctata	Anisosticta novemdecimpunctata	Anisosticta novemdecimpunctata	Anisosticta novemdecimpunctata
Aphidecta obliterata
Calvia quattuordecimguttata	Calvia quattuordecimguttata	Calvia quattuordecimguttata	Calvia quattuordecimguttata	Calvia quattuordecimguttata
Coccinella septempunctata	Coccinella septempunctata	Coccinella septempunctata
Halyzia sedecimguttata	Halyzia sedecimguttata	Halyzia sedecimguttata
Harmonia axyridis	Harmonia axyridis	Harmonia axyridis	Harmonia axyridis	Harmonia axyridis
Hippodamia variegata
Myrrha octodecimguttata	Myrrha octodecimguttata	Myrrha octodecimguttata	Myrrha octodecimguttata
Propylea quattuordecimpunctata	Propylea quattuordecimpunctata	Propylea quattuordecimpunctata	Propylea quattuordecimpunctata	Propylea quattuordecimpunctata
Psyllobora 22-punctata	Psyllobora 22-punctata	Psyllobora 22-punctata	Psyllobora 22-punctata	Psyllobora 22-punctata
Tytthaspis sedecimpunctata	Tytthaspis sedecimpunctata
Scymninae
Scymnus	Stethorus
Chilocorinae
Exochomus 4-pustulatus
Epilachninae
Subcoccinella 24-punctata
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