Bug FAQEyed Ladybird Beetle
Anatis ocellata · Order: Coleoptera · Family: Coccinellidae
Also called: Eyed Labybug, Eyed Ladybird
The Eyed Ladybird Beetle has black spots on a red (sometimes brown) background, each spot edged with a yellowish halo; in Scotland a form shows the spots fused into longitudinal lines. It lives in temperate coniferous forests across Europe, Russia, Central Asia, Mongolia, northern China, western Canada, the Korean Peninsula and Turkey, most often on pines but also on spruces, birches and aspen. Adults eat aphids on coniferous trees, including several species such as Eucallipterus tiliae and Acyrthosiphon pisum, and they overwinter as adults.
Source: Wikipedia
How to recognize it
Black spots on a red background, each surrounded by a yellowish halo; brown backgrounds have also been reported. In Scotland some individuals have spots that merge into longitudinal lines.
Source: Wikipedia
Where it lives
Found mainly in temperate coniferous forests, including Central European mixed forests, Sarmatic mixed forests and Scandinavian montane birch forest. Most often encountered on pines, but also on Norway spruce, other spruces, silver birch and aspen.
Source: Wikipedia
What it eats
Adults are predatory, feeding on aphids that live on coniferous trees.
Source: Wikipedia
Life cycle
Adult beetles survive through the winter months.
Source: Wikipedia
When you see it
Adults overwinter and are present year-round.
Source: Wikipedia
Where it comes from
Its range includes continental Europe, trans-continental Russia, central Asia, Mongolia, northern China, western Canada and the Korean Peninsula, as well as Turkey.
Source: Wikipedia
Where it is found in the US
Recorded in 4 of 51 states and DC. Most records: Michigan, Indiana, Pennsylvania, Illinois.
Darker = more records. Counts are museum and citizen-science records, not population size.
Source: GBIF
More photos
Same family (Coccinellidae)
Sources
- Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anatis_ocellata
Look it up elsewhere: GBIF · iNaturalist · BugGuide · Wikipedia
Text written 2026-10-24 from the sources above and checked sentence by sentence against them. Data fetched 2026-10-22.