Bug FAQOrange-spotted Lady Beetle
Brachiacantha felina · Order: Coleoptera · Family: Coccinellidae
Adult orange-spotted lady beetles are tiny, only about 2.2 to 3 mm long. They have black elytra marked with five yellow spots and a pronotum that is black with yellow edges that differ between males and females. They occur in North America, recorded from Massachusetts down to North Carolina and west to Iowa and Louisiana.
Source: Wikipedia
How to recognize it
Males have a black pronotum with a yellow front edge and a yellow corner, while females have a black pronotum with a yellow corner and sometimes a yellow front edge. The wing covers are black with five yellow spots.
Source: Wikipedia
Size
Adults measure roughly 2.2 to 3 mm in length.
Source: Wikipedia
Where it lives
It is found in North America, from Massachusetts to North Carolina and west to Iowa and Louisiana.
Source: Wikipedia
Where it comes from
Its native range is in North America, recorded across states from Massachusetts to North Carolina and west to Iowa and Louisiana.
Source: Wikipedia
Where it is found in the US
Recorded in 22 of 51 states and DC. Most records: Ohio, Kansas, Pennsylvania, Illinois, Kentucky, Michigan, Oklahoma, Alabama.
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
Source: GBIF
More photos
Questions people ask
How can I tell male and female orange-spotted lady beetles apart?
Males have a yellow front edge on the pronotum, while females lack that edge but may have a yellow corner.
Source: Wikipedia
What do the spots on the orange-spotted lady beetle look like?
The beetle’s wing covers are black with five distinct yellow spots.
Source: Wikipedia
Where in the United States might I find this beetle?
It has been recorded from Massachusetts down to North Carolina and westward to Iowa and Louisiana.
Source: Wikipedia
Same family (Coccinellidae)
Sources
- Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brachiacantha_felina
Look it up elsewhere: GBIF · iNaturalist · BugGuide · ITIS · Wikipedia
Text written 2026-10-28 from the sources above and checked sentence by sentence against them. Data fetched 2026-10-28.