Hippodamia convergens
In 3 days ~10% in a week ~20%
Hippodamia convergens, commonly known as the convergent lady beetle, is one of the most common lady beetles in North America and is found throughout the continent. They tend to live a variety of habitats, including grasslands and forests.
Female H. convergens can lay over 1000 eggs over the span of a few months during the spring or early summer. In some populations, the beetles may undergo diapause if there are limited food resources to delay reproduction.
H. convergens eat soft-bodied insects, with aphids being the primary food resource. Aphids are a known pest, so the H. convergens has been used as a method to control aphids by releasing the beetles to act as a predator for the aphids.
Convergent lady beetles are native to North America, but have also been found in South America after they were imported from California. H. convergens tend to be more successful and more likely to survive to adulthood in warmer temperatures.
In some areas, they gather on sunflower patches, having moved from wheat fields. They use the petioles of the sunflowers to hydrate, particularly in arid summer months. They populate grasslands, forests, agricultural fields, gardens... Wikipedia →
| # | Park | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Parks | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 2 | Death Valley National Park | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 3 | Yosemite National Park | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 4 | Big Bend National Park | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 5 | Joshua Tree National Park | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 6 | Grand Canyon National Park | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 7 | Guadalupe Mountains National Park | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 8 | Badlands National Park | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 9 | Channel Islands National Park | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 10 | Zion National Park | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 11 | Saguaro National Park | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 12 | Bahía de Loreto National Park | 🇲🇽 Mexico | |
| 13 | Cumbres de Monterrey National Park | 🇲🇽 Mexico | |
| 14 | Rocky Mountain National Park | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 15 | Glacier National Park | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 16 | Yellowstone National Park | 🇺🇸 United States |
| # | City | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Quito | 🇪🇨 Ecuador | |
| 2 | Ciudad Juárez | 🇲🇽 México | |
| 3 | La Paz | 🇧🇴 Bolivia | |
| 4 | Arequipa | 🇵🇪 Peru | |
| 5 | Cochabamba | 🇧🇴 Bolivia | |
| 6 | Denver | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 7 | Sacramento | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 8 | Torreón | 🇲🇽 México | |
| 9 | Toluca | 🇲🇽 México | |
| 10 | Puebla | 🇲🇽 México |
Rare
Under 5% of wildlife watchers report a Convergent Lady Beetle sighting in Chicago on a given day, based on 25 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data. It is the 421st most-seen of the 978 insects we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to about 10%, and over a week to about 20%, if each day is a fresh chance.
Any time of year
In every month with enough records, under 5% of wildlife watchers report a Convergent Lady Beetle in Chicago on a given day, so our monthly data shows no clear season.
Between 11 am and 2 pm
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Convergent Lady Beetle sightings with a recorded time, and about 9 in 10 of them come between 6 am and 6 pm: it is a daytime animal.
48th of 51
Of the 51 cities where we can rate Convergent Lady Beetle sightings, Chicago ranks 48th at under 5%. The best odds are in Quito (Ecuador, about 50%), Ciudad Juárez (México, about 30%) and La Paz (Bolivia, about 30%).
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Convergent Lady Beetle is recorded against all the insects logged in Chicago (25 verified sightings), calibrated against known sighting rates. Figures are rounded to the nearest 10% because citizen-science data supports honest approximations, not decimals, and months with records from fewer than five people show "—". How it works.
