Illeis galbula

Illeis galbula, the fungus-eating ladybird, is a species of beetle in the family Coccinellidae.

Illeis galbula
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Arthropoda
Class:	Insecta
Order:	Coleoptera
Suborder:	Polyphaga
Infraorder:	Cucujiformia
Family:	Coccinellidae
Genus:	Illeis
Species:	I. galbula
Binomial name
Illeis galbula (Mulsant, 1850)
Synonyms[1]
Psyllobora galbula Mulsant, 1850

Description

Adults are 4-5mm in size, while the larvae are between 8 and 10mm.^[2] Adults are black with bright yellow markings.^[3] Larvae are grey with black tubercles covered with short spines.^[3] The pupa is pale yellow with black tubercles and lateral spurs.^[3]

Behaviour

During the day it is fast moving and readily flies or drops when disturbed.^[2] The pupa are active and often stand on end.^[2] Adult and larval fungus-eating ladybirds are often found in gardens where they eat powdery mildew on cucurbit crops like pumpkin and zucchini.^[4] In Australia, overwintering adults feed on pollen of wattles and privet species during spring.^[3]

Distribution

This species is native to Eastern Australia.^[3] It is a non-native species in the North Island of New Zealand, first found in Auckland in 1985.^[3] They are also found in New Guinea.^[3]

Gallery

• 
  Larval form
• 
  Fungus-eating ladybird, Binalong Bay, Australia
• 
  Fungus-eating ladybird eating powdery mildew on zucchini leaf
• 
  Illeis galbula on a hand