Conifer Lady Beetle

Scymnus coniferarum · Order: Coleoptera · Family: Coccinellidae

No source yet on danger. We have no source yet on whether it bites, stings or damages anything.
Conifer Lady Beetle
Photo: Trevor Van Loon, CC BY

Scymnus coniferarum lives in western North America. It is being studied as a possible biological control for the Hemlock woolly adelgid on the east coast.

Source: Wikipedia

Where it lives

It is found in western North America.

Source: Wikipedia

Where it comes from

Its native range is western North America.

Source: Wikipedia

Where it is found in the US

Recorded in 5 of 51 states and DC. Most records: California, Idaho, Arizona, Washington, Nevada.

Darker = more records. Counts are museum and citizen-science records, not population size.

Source: GBIF

Status: native in North America; native in Canada. Source: iNaturalist

Months it is reported in the US

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Source: GBIF

More photos

Conifer Lady Beetle photo 2
Photo: Trevor Van Loon, CC BY
Conifer Lady Beetle photo 3
Photo: Trevor Van Loon, CC BY
Conifer Lady Beetle photo 4
Photo: iNaturalist user, CC0
Conifer Lady Beetle photo 5
Photo: Wendy McCrady, CC BY

Questions people ask

Is Scymnus coniferarum used for pest control?

It is currently being evaluated as a possible biological control agent against the Hemlock woolly adelgid.

Source: Wikipedia

Same family (Coccinellidae)

Asian Lady BeetleAsian Lady BeetleHarmonia axyridisCan biteSeven-spotted Lady BeetleSeven-spotted Lady BeetleCoccinella septempunctataConvergent Lady BeetleConvergent Lady BeetleHippodamia convergensCan biteFourteen-spotted Lady BeetleFourteen-spotted Lady BeetlePropylea quatuordecimpunctataVariegated Lady BeetleVariegated Lady BeetleHippodamia variegataSpotless Lady BeetleSpotless Lady BeetleCycloneda sanguinea

Sources

  • Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scymnus_coniferarum

Look it up elsewhere: GBIF · iNaturalist · BugGuide · ITIS · Wikipedia

Text written 2026-10-27 from the sources above and checked sentence by sentence against them. Data fetched 2026-10-27.

How this page works

This is one bug's fact sheet. The colored box at the top says whether it is dangerous. Sections below cover how to recognize it, whether it is a pest, and how to deal with it. The US map shows which states have records; tap a state to see other bugs there.

Every fact on Bug FAQ comes from a named source (university extension sites, government agencies, GBIF, iNaturalist, Wikipedia). The source is linked next to each section. If we have no source for something, we leave it out.