Anatis ocellata

Anatis ocellata, commonly known as the eyed ladybug, is a species of ladybug in the family Coccinellidae. It has black spots on a red background, with each spot surrounded by a yellowish halo. In one color variation, a specimen found in Scotland was reported having the spots fused to form longitudinal lines.[1]

Anatis ocellata
Scientific classification
Kingdom:
Animalia
Phylum:
Arthropoda
Class:
Insecta
Order:
Coleoptera
Family:
Coccinellidae
Genus:
Anatis
Species:
A. ocellata
Binomial name
Anatis ocellata

Distribution

The species is found from continental Europe, in transcontinental Russia, in central Asia, in Mongolia, in northern China, and to the Korean peninsula.[2]

Biology

The primary habitat is temperate coniferous forest including Central European mixed forests and Sarmatic mixed forests, Scandinavian montane birch forest. Most frequently on pines but also on Picea abies and other Picea species, Betula pendula and other Betula species, and Populus tremula. Adults are entomophagous, mainly feeding on aphids on coniferous trees [3]

The species feeds on aphids such as Eucallipterus tiliae, Tuberculatus annulatus, Euceraphis betulae, Cavariella konoi, Acyrthosiphon ignotum, A. pisum, and Macrosiphoniella artemisiae.[4] They prefer pine aphids (family Adelgidae), and are attracted to the scent of pine.[5] The defensive alkaloid compound 2-dehydrococcinelline has been isolated and identified from this species.[6] The adults and larvae also feed on leaf hopper larvae on P. tremula.[7] The adults overwinter.

References
  1. Liston AD. (1979). "An unusual aberration of Anatis ocellata (Linnaeus) (Coleoptera: Coccinellidae)". Entomologist's Gazette. 30 (1): 21–22. ISSN 0013-8894.
  2. 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
  3. Dyadechko, N.P., The Coccinellidae of the Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic (Academy of Sciences of the Ukrainian SSR, Kiev, 1954) [in Russian].
  4. Kalushkov P, Hodek I (2001). "New essential aphid prey for Anatis ocellata and Calvia quatuordecimguttata (Coleoptera: Coccinellidae)". Biocontrol Science and Technology. 11 (1): 35–39. doi:10.1080/09583150020029727.
  5. Acorn J. (2007). Ladybugs of Alberta: Finding the Spots and Connecting the Dots. University of Alberta. p. 24. ISBN 9780888643810.
  6. Lebrun B, Braekman JC, Daloze D, Pasteels JM (1997). "2-Dehydrococcinelline, a new defensive alkaloid from the ladybird beetle Anatis ocellata (Coccinellidae)". Journal of Natural Products. 60 (1): 1148–9. doi:10.1021/np9702695.
  7. Savoiskaya, G.I., Coccinellid Larvae (Coleoptera, Coccinellidae) of the Fauna of the USSR (Nauka, Leningrad Branch, Leningrad, 1983) (Keys to the Fauna of the USSR, Published by the Zoological Institute of the Academy of Sciences of the USSR, No. 137) [in Russian].The adults overwinter in litter and among fallen leaves.
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