Tytthaspis sedecimpunctata
In 3 days ~30% in a week ~60%
Tytthaspis sedecimpunctata is a species of beetle in the family Coccinellidae. Its common English name is the sixteen-spot ladybird. It is found in the Palearctic - Europe, North Africa, European Russia, the Caucasus, Belarus, Ukraine, Moldova, Transcaucasia, Northern Kazakhstan, Western Asia and Northwest China.
It is an inhabitant of the grass layer occurring on dunes, inland dunes, sandy shores and bodden, in Eurasian steppe or on wastelands and dry meadows and occasionally in marshy meadows. It is recorded as feeding on aphids but also on Pucciniales and powdery mildew, on the pollen on Gramineae, Compositae, and Convolvulaceae, and also on mites and thrips (Thysanoptera)
The 16-spot frequently forms very large aggregations on tree trunks, fence posts, logs and so on during winter. It is a small ladybird of around 2-3mm. It is usually a cream or beige colour, although darker forms do occur. It has a distinctive dark line on the middle of its elytra, and its spots are often fused, with three fused spots often forming a line on either side of the ladybird. Wikipedia →
| # | Park | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Cévennes National Park | 🇫🇷 France | |
| 2 | Wadden Sea National Park | 🇩🇪 Germany | |
| 3 | Bavarian Forest National Park | 🇩🇪 Germany | |
| 4 | Pyrénées National Park | 🇫🇷 France |
| # | City | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | London | 🇬🇧 United Kingdom | |
| 2 | Birmingham | 🇬🇧 United Kingdom | |
| 3 | Lyon | 🇫🇷 France | |
| 4 | Essen | 🇩🇪 Germany | |
| 5 | Rotterdam [The Hague] | 🇳🇱 Netherlands | |
| 6 | Berlin | 🇩🇪 Germany | |
| 7 | Warsaw | 🇵🇱 Poland | |
| 8 | Stockholm | 🇸🇪 Sweden | |
| 9 | Leeds | 🇬🇧 United Kingdom | |
| 10 | Prague | 🇨🇿 Czechia |
With luck
About 10% of wildlife watchers report a 16-Spot Ladybird sighting in London on a given day, based on 235 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data. It is the 154th most-seen of the 1504 insects we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to about 30%, and over a week to about 60%, if each day is a fresh chance.
February and April
In those months about 20% of wildlife watchers report a 16-Spot Ladybird in London on a given day, against about 10% in March and May–January, the lowest months.
Between 11 am and 2 pm
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most 16-Spot Ladybird sightings with a recorded time, and about 9 in 10 of them come between 6 am and 6 pm: it is a daytime animal.
Yes
Of the 19 cities where we can rate 16-Spot Ladybird sightings, London has the highest daily chance: about 10%. Next come Birmingham (United Kingdom, about 10%) and Lyon (France, about 10%).
Same family: Coccinellidae
The closest relatives of the 16-Spot Ladybird that you can see in London (family Coccinellidae, Lady Beetles) are Asian Lady Beetle (about 50%), Seven-Spotted Lady Beetle (about 50%) and Two-Spotted Lady Beetle (about 20%), with each one's daily chance of a sighting.
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the 16-Spot Ladybird is recorded against all the insects logged in London (235 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.
