Harmonia axyridis
species of beetle
Harmonia axyridis is a lady beetle or ladybird species that is most commonly known as the harlequin, Asian, or multicoloured Asian lady beetle. This is one of the most variable lady beetle species in the world, with an exceptionally wide range of colour forms. It is native to eastern Asia, and has been artificially introduced to North America and Europe to control aphids and scale insects. It is now common, well known, and spreading in those regions, and has also established in Africa and widely across South America.
This species is conspicuous in North America, where it may locally be known as the Halloween beetle, as it often invades homes during October to overwinter. Other names include multivariate, southern, Japanese, and pumpkin ladybird. Like other coccinellid beetles, this species may interchangeably be referred to as a lady beetle, ladybug, or ladybird, though entomologists prefer the names ladybird beetles or lady beetles to avoid confusion with true bugs. A widespread misconception exists that this species is not a ladybug due to confusion over common names.
Description
Harmonia axyridis is a typical coccinellid beetle in shape and structure, being domed and having a "smooth" transition between its elytra (wing coverings), pronotum, and head. It ranges from 5.5 to 8.5 mm (0.22 to 0.33 in) in size.
The public source identifies “Harmonia axyridis” as species of beetle. This brief keeps that definition visible, then builds a research path around Harmonia, axyridis and species.
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Stable identifiers, scientific names and standards terminology offer the best bridge between this overview and specialist evidence. The source revision retrieved here is dated Sep 23, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q499627. None of the 0 selected statements returned an explicit reference.
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This entry incorporates text from “Harmonia axyridis” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.