Dot Ladybird Stethorus pusillus

This species has a reputation for being difficult to find but I have been seeing it regularly in my recording area for a few years now.

I have one reliable site, a sheltered ride with small oaks in mixed hedgerows . Otherwise it is a species that I stumble across unexpectedly in different locations.

I find it in garden wheelie bins, but also by beating evergreen garden shrubs and deciduous trees in the wider countyside.

In late September and early October of 2022 this species was more abundant than I had ever seen it before with almost daily records, including double figures on some days.

Identification Length 1.3-1.5mm

Very tiny, so easy to overlook, but once known it is quite distinctive.

One of several all black species with yellow legs. Sometimes the top part of the legs are black but at least some of the lower leg is yellowish-brown, often paler than the reddish-brown of similar species.

Its extreme small size is immediately obvious, its length is equal to the width of most other inconspicuous ladybirds.

Pale hairs on the elytra run parallel with the central line and often catch the light along the sides or form a silvery patch halfway along.

Upshire, North Essex

Upshire, North Essex

Nazeing, North Essex

Chingford, North Essex

Exeter, South Devon

Exeter, South Devon

Dobbs Wier, Lee Valley, North Essex

Nazeing, North Essex

Waltham Abbey, North Essex

Nazeing, North Essex

Waltham Abbey, North Essex

Sawbridgeworth, Hertfordshire

All dark underside

With Red-headed Ladybird

With Red-flanked Ladybird

With Arboreal Ladybird

With Arboreal and Ivy Ladybirds

With 7-spot Ladybird

With one pence coin

A tiny dot on my hand!

Beaten from ornamental pine tree

Upshire, Essex

Habitat

Unpredictable. Occurs in gardens but can also be found in the wider countryside.

I have found up to ten at a time in garden wheelie bins containing Daylily, Hemerocallis, that I had cut back in September, when it had gone over.

In September 2022 I found up to 14 on a wheelie bin lid containing windblown poplar leaves and branches.

I also find them in wheelie bins containing mixed prunings from evergreen shrubs, although it is not always possible to know which plant species it was associated with.

On lid of garden wheelie bin

Mixed prunings containing Dot Ladybird

Storm blown poplar leaves with abundant Dot Ladybirds

Unobtrusively sitting on wheelie bin handle

In gardens I have beaten Dot Ladybird from a variety of evergreen shrubs including Viburnum tinus, Weigela, Berberis, Juniper, Firethorn and Privet.

I have twice found it in an Exeter garden, Devon, on Buddleja and Portugal Laurel.

Privet hedge Waltham Abbey, North Essex

Buddleja shrub with ivy Exeter, South Devon

Portugal Laurel Exeter, South Devon

I have also beaten Dot Ladybird from deciduous trees in the wider countryside, including poplar, Crack Willow, Hazel, Field Maple, Blackthorn and Hawthorn. I have beaten them from oaks on several occasions, occasionally alongside Oak Ladybird.

Small oak in hedgerow amongst willows
Gunpowder Park, Lee Valley, South Essex

Small oak on edge of sunny ride
Gunpowder Park, Lee Valley, South Essex

Small oak tree Gunpowder Park, Lee Valley, South Essex

Small oak tree Gunpowder Park, Lee Valley, South Essex

Sheltered sunny ride: a fairly reliable location
Gunpowder Park, Lee Valley, South Essex

Mixed deciduous hedgerows alongside footpath

Devil's Dyke car park, Cambridgeshire

Dot ladybirds can be found in Ivy alongside many other ladybird species.

Ivy covered tree trunk Fishers Green, Lee Valley, North Essex

I have also beaten Dot Ladybird from Yew, larch and pine trees in mature gardens.

Ornamental pine tree
Upshire, South Essex

Fungus

In the autumn of 2023 I started noticing that several of the Dot Ladybirds I was seeing in Upshire, Essex had a strange green growth on the back of the wing cases. I first thought that this was pollen or plant residue sticking to them but eventually realised it was a species of fungus.

After contact online with Dr Danny Haelewaters I found out that this is Hesperomyces coccinelloides, a species complex that occurs on several ladybird species.