Subcoccinella vigintiquatuorpunctata
In 3 days ~30% in a week ~60%
Subcoccinella vigintiquatuorpunctata (the 24-spot ladybird) is a beetle in the family Coccinellidae. It is the only member of the genus Subcoccinella (though this is disputed; see below). It has the typical, almost semi-spherical, ladybird shape and is patterned with spots. However it differs from many of the well-known ladybirds in being neither smooth and shiny nor an eater of aphids: the wing-cases look velvety and it eats the leaves of herbaceous plants.
The common names for this insect in many languages follow the binomial name and mention that it has twenty-four spots, but in English there is great variation in how this is written, with little consensus over the use of words or numerals, capitalisation, placement of hyphens and whether to use "spot", "spotted", "point" or "pointed"; "ladybird", "ladybird beetle" or "ladybug". There is even disagreement about the spelling of the Latin "vigintiquatuorpunctata" with some authoritative UK lists preferring a double "t": "vigintiquattuopunctata". For ease it is often written "Subcoccinella 24-punctata". Given the multitude of name formations, it is probably best to use just the genus "Subcoccinella" when carrying out a... Wikipedia →
| # | Park | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Vanoise National Park | 🇫🇷 France | |
| 2 | Fertő-Hanság National Park | 🇭🇺 Hungary | |
| 3 | Cévennes National Park | 🇫🇷 France | |
| 4 | Pyrénées National Park | 🇫🇷 France | |
| 5 | Sierra de Guadarrama National Park | 🇪🇸 Spain |
With luck
About 10% of wildlife watchers report a 24-Spot Ladybird sighting in London on a given day, based on 238 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data. It is the 169th 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.
May
In that month about 20% of wildlife watchers report a 24-Spot Ladybird in London on a given day, against under 5% in August and November–December, the lowest months.
Between 9 am and noon
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most 24-Spot Ladybird sightings with a recorded time, and about 8 in 10 of them come between 6 am and 6 pm: it is a daytime animal.
Among the best
Of the 10 cities where we can rate 24-Spot Ladybird sightings, London ranks 3rd at about 10%, level with the leaders once rounded. The best odds are in Birmingham (United Kingdom, about 10%) and Budapest (Hungary, about 10%).
Same family: Coccinellidae
The closest relatives of the 24-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 24-Spot Ladybird is recorded against all the insects logged in London (238 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.
