Coccinella novemnotata

Although this family has been the focus of many studies in the 19th and 20th century to delineate the subfamily and tribe relations, there is no consensus as most studies based on morphology contradict. However, a 2011 study based on molecular sequencing data has clarified and produced a few detailed phylogenetic trees. ==Description and identification==

The nine-spotted ladybug can be identified by the four black spots on each of its elytra, a single spot split between the elytra, and a black suture between the elytra. Its pronotum is black, with two connected white marks at the front of its head. They range from 4.7 to 7.0 millimeters (0.19-0.28 inches) long and the elytra can range from yellow to orange and spotted or spotless. Males can be distinguished by a spot on their anterior coxae and stripe on the femora. == Life cycle and behavior ==

Coccinella novemnotata is a holometabolous bivoltine species. Diapauses are dependent on photoperiod length, temperature, and prey availability. Adults enter diapause through the summer and winter and emerge in the autumn and early spring, respectively. They reproduce in early spring and oviposit in early autumn. Adult females determine the oviposition sites and eggs are laid in clutches attached to thin branches, leaves, or other surrounding material. == Habitat ==

The nine-spotted ladybeetles are nomadic and can thrive in a great variety of habitats across the continent, based on factors such as aphid or prey density, mate distribution, and seasonal availability of herbaceous material to facilitate breeding. Within agricultural landscapes, Coccinella novemnotata exist in cotton, alfalfa, corn, and soybean fields as a candidate for biological control of aphids. In addition, they can be found in suburban parks and gardens. In more natural settings, they are found in open areas with shrubbery and small trees (deciduous or coniferous), meadows, prairie grassland, and riparian zones. ==Historic and extant distribution==

C. novemnotata has historically been native in North America— the United States and southern Canada. C. novemnotata has become rare across its native range. It was once the most commonly collected coccinellid in the Northeastern United States until the early 1990s with the last individuals collected from Maryland, Pennsylvania, and Delaware between 1986 and 1988, and another collection in Maine in 1992. A prominent effort of citizen science originating from Cornell University in New York has reported tens of sightings of the rare beetle in western states of the US, with nearly no sighting on the eastern side. In 2008, over 40 individual C. novemnotata and over 30 live specimens were collected exclusively from the western states. More recently, C. novemnotata has only been collected sporadically in the Midwest and west coast of the United States. A 2015 Canadian report shows larger populations in provinces of British Columbia and Alberta, and smaller sightings in Ontario. ==Conservation status==

Invasive coccinellid species and changing agricultural habitats have been considered as possible explanations for their drastic decline, but recent studies do not suggest a correlation between C. novemnotata densities and invasive species density and land-use change. ==State insect of New York==

The nine-spotted ladybug has been the state insect of New York since 1989, though its numbers have declined as the numbers of introduced species such as the seven-spotted ladybug and Asian lady beetle have increased. It was for some time thought extinct in New York, so in 2006, the state considered designating the pink spotted ladybug as state insect instead, but the bill did not pass the Senate. In 2006 the nine-spotted ladybug was rediscovered in Virginia with the first East Coast sighting in 14 years. In 2011, about 20 of these ladybugs were found on a farm in Amagansett, New York, the first such sighting in the state since 1982. ==References==