Appearance
''Cycloneda sanguinea'' is a large ladybird beetle with red, unspotted elytra . The color ranges from orange to deep red. The white and black marks on the head and pronotum are very distinctive, and they are also gender-specific. Females and males both have white spots on the black part, but the female has black in the center, continuing down into the face, while the male has a white cleft above the head and a white face. These ladybugs are very often found feeding on aphids on milkweeds, but also occur on a number of other plants. Its pupae have the remarkable ability to "bite" potential predators using a device known as a "gin trap".
Distribution
''Cycloneda sanguinea'' is the most widespread ladybird beetle in Latin America, with a distribution that ranges from the southern United States to Argentina, and eastward to the Cayman Islands. On the Galápagos Islands, it lives in sympatry with its sister species, ''Cycloneda galapagensis''.References:
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