Tytthaspis sedecimpunctata

Tytthaspis sedecimpunctata is a species of beetle in the family Coccinellidae. Its common English name is the sixteen-spot ladybird. It is found in the Palearctic - Europe, North Africa, European Russia, the Caucasus, Belarus, Ukraine, Moldova, Transcaucasia, Northern Kazakhstan, Western Asia and Northwest China.^[2][3] It is an inhabitant of the grass layer occurring on dunes, inland dunes, sandy shores and bodden, in Eurasian steppe or on wastelands and dry meadows and occasionally in marshy meadows.^[4] It is recorded as feeding on aphids but also on Pucciniales and powdery mildew, on the pollen on Gramineae, Compositae, and Convolvulaceae, and also on mites and thrips (Thysanoptera) ^[5][6]

Tytthaspis sedecimpunctata
Scientific classification
Domain:	Eukaryota
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Arthropoda
Class:	Insecta
Order:	Coleoptera
Suborder:	Polyphaga
Infraorder:	Cucujiformia
Family:	Coccinellidae
Genus:	Tytthaspis
Species:	T. sedecimpunctata
Binomial name
Tytthaspis sedecimpunctata (Linnaeus, 1761) [1]

The 16-spot frequently forms very large aggregations on tree trunks, fence posts, logs and so on during winter.^[7] It is a small ladybird of around 2-3mm. It is usually a cream or beige colour, although darker forms do occur. It has a distinctive dark line on the middle of its elytra, and its spots are often fused, with three fused spots often forming a line on either side of the ladybird.

A large group of Tytthaspis sedecimpunctata ladybirds on a tree trunk.