Black-ringed Ladybird

Oenopia cinctella

Small, 5mm ladybirds indigenous to the Western Cape area of South Africa. Adults and larvae feed on psyllids and other small insects, leaf beetle eggs and larvae and are important in biological pest control.
Black-ringed ladybird The only spots this ladybird has are on its head. This little on surprised me in the garden the other day, luckily I managed to get a couple of shots. Black-ringed ladybird,Coccinellidae,Coccinellinae,Geotagged,Oenopia,Oenopia cinctella,South Africa,Spring,insects,ladybirds,south africa

Appearance

Boldy length 5mm, smooth, head and pronotum black with pale yellow markings. Elytra orange-yellow with black markings.
Rear view of the black-ringed ladybird Just as it was about to fly away Black-ringed ladybird,Coccinellidae,Coccinellinae,Geotagged,Oenopia,Oenopia cinctella,South Africa,Spring,insects,ladybirds,south africa

Naming

Mulsant 1850

Distribution

Western Cape, South Africa

Habitat

Plant stems and foilage

Food

carnivorous, adults and larvae feeding on various homopteran bugs, small insects and mites.

References:

Some text fragments are auto parsed from Wikipedia.

http://eol.org/pages/40932531/overview
Field Guide to Insects of South Africa, Mike Picker,Charles Griffiths and Alan Weaving. Srruik Nature 2004
Taxonomy
KingdomAnimalia
DivisionArthropoda
ClassInsecta
OrderColeoptera
FamilyCoccinellidae
GenusOenopia
SpeciesOenopia cinctella
Photographed in
South Africa