Bug FAQBryony Ladybird
Henosepilachna argus · Order: Coleoptera · Family: Coccinellidae
Also called: Cucurbit Ladybird
Source: Wikipedia
Bryony ladybirds are 5 to 7 mm long and have an orange-red back with eleven black spots. They appear in spring, mate in early summer and disappear by late summer, laying yellow eggs on the undersides of host-plant leaves. They live where their host plants grow, such as hedges, clearings and dunes across most of Europe and the Afrotropical realm.
Source: Wikipedia
How to recognize it
The pronotum and elytra are orange-red with eleven black spots to five per wing and one shared on the shield. In southern Europe the legs are orange.
Source: Wikipedia
Size
Adults measure about 5 to 7 mm in length.
Source: Wikipedia
Is it a pest in the house?
They do not eat insects; instead they feed on garden plants, which can damage foliage.
Source: Wikipedia
Where it lives
They are found wherever host plants grow, including hedges, herbaceous wasteland, forest clearings and sometimes dunes.
Source: Wikipedia
What it eats
They eat plant material, especially squirting cucumber, white bryony and other cucurbits. They bite a leaf, isolate a circular area and consume the tissue inside that circle.
Source: Wikipedia
Life cycle
Adults emerge in March-April, mate in May-June and are gone by the end of summer. Yellow eggs are laid on the underside of host-plant leaves and hatch after 12-14 days. Pupae spend the winter in low vegetation.
Source: Wikipedia
When you see it
They appear in early spring, reproduce in early summer and disappear by late summer, moving to wintering sites in September-October.
Source: Wikipedia
Where it comes from
Their range covers most of Europe and extends into the Afrotropical realm.
Source: Wikipedia
More photos
Questions people ask
What plants do Bryony ladybirds damage?
They feed on squirting cucumber, white bryony and other cucurbit family plants, chewing circular patches out of the leaves.
Source: Wikipedia
When are Bryony ladybirds active?
Adults appear in March-April, mate in May-June and are gone by the end of summer, moving to wintering sites in September-October.
Source: Wikipedia
Same family (Coccinellidae)
Sources
- Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henosepilachna_argus
Look it up elsewhere: GBIF · iNaturalist · BugGuide · Wikipedia
Text written 2026-10-23 from the sources above and checked sentence by sentence against them. Data fetched 2026-10-22.