Field
Varieties and regions
Florida is not a northern lady-beetle year. Beetles hunt through warm months, and Harmonia looks for wall cracks when nights cool. Hippodamia convergens is famous for Sierra Nevada aggregations; those western masses are the source of many commercial bags. Central Florida gardens see residents and wanderers, not a mountain hibernation.
Who shows up here
EENY-170 is the Florida catalog. For a yard, three adults matter: the spotless native, the convergent native, and Harmonia. Pink-spotted beetles visit flowers. Tiny black Scymnus species work scales and never make a crate label.
Migration and bags
EENY-592 describes mass aggregations in the Sierra Nevada. Dealers cool those adults and ship them. UF/IFAS notes they may be parasitized and may be programmed to fly west when they warm. That is a California mountain behavior, not an Orlando yard behavior. Habitat on site beats a bag.
Seven-spot
Coccinella septempunctata is a European introduction. EENY-204 warns not to confuse it with Harmonia. Seven neat spots on a red dome is a clue, not a proof. Use the pronotum.
Questions
Do lady beetles migrate through Florida like monarchs?
Some species aggregate and move with season, especially Hippodamia in the west. Florida’s story is year-round hunting plus Harmonia seeking winter shelter. Do not paste a Midwest migration map on Orange County.
Sources
- EENY-170 / IN327 Lady beetles of Florida. UF/IFAS Featured Creatures. About 105 Coccinellidae in Florida.
- EENY-592 / IN1037 Convergent lady beetle. Hippodamia convergens. Pollen and nectar when prey is scarce. Wild-collected sales.
- EENY-204 / IN361 Multicolored Asian lady beetle. Harmonia axyridis. Color morphs. Indoor overwintering. Established by the 1990s.
- IPM-146 / IN849 Purchasing and using commercial natural enemies. UF/IFAS. Read before buying beetles in a bag.