Cycloneda munda

Kingdom:Animalia
Phylum:Arthropoda
SubPhylum:Hexapoda
Class:Insecta
Subclass:Pterygota
Order:Coleoptera
Suborder:Polyphaga
Superfamily:Cucujoidea
Family:Coccinellidae
Subfamily: Coccinellinae
Genus:Cycloneda
Species:munda
 Say, 1835
Subspecies:
  • C. munda by Alex Wild 2008
  • C. munda by Darrin O\'Brien, Farmington Hill, Mich
  • C. munda larva Mike Quinn
  • C. munda by Shelly Cox, Savannah, Missouri

This small (length 3.7 - 5.7mm), pretty, native ladybug earns its common name, "polished ladybug" with spotless, convex, and shiny elytra.  Note the size comparison with a similar looking Harmonia axyridis (below left).  There are three North American Cycloneda species, distingushed largely by geographical range and details of the pronotum.  Of the three, Cycloneda munda is found in the east, and has white lateral "C" shaped markings on black pronotal background.  In regions where C. munda overlaps with C. sanguinea, the two species can be distinguished by the separated white "eyespot" on C. sanguinea pronotum.C.saguinea Terri Stephen  Cycloneda munda tends to be more orange than the redder C. polita, with similar pronotum.  But these two species remain separated by the Rocky Mountains.   Male and female Cycloneda munda can be externally determined.   Males have all white faces.  Females faces have dark centers.  The geographic ranges of all three species can be compared on the Gordon (1985) range map linked above.

C.munda and H.axyridis, Steve Spitzer