Twenty-Spotted Lady Beetle

Twenty-Spotted Lady Beetle

Psyllobora vigintimaculata

Daily sighting probability ~10% · With luck
at Great Smoky Mountains National Park

In 3 days ~20% in a week ~50%

35 Verified sightings at Great Smoky Mountains National Park From 2019 to 2026
67 In all 4 parks
April Best month
☀️ Diurnal When it's spotted

About the Twenty-Spotted Lady Beetle

Psyllobora vigintimaculata, the twenty-spotted lady beetle, is a species of lady beetle in the family Coccinellidae. It is found in North America, where it has been recorded from Newfoundland to Alaska in the north and from Virginia to Tennessee and Louisiana, west to southern California.

P. vigintimaculata is about 1.75–3.0 mm in length, lives 1-2 years, and has four or five distinctive dark spots on the pronotum in an "M" shape. The elytra have dark, orange or bicolored spots on a white background. Although it is sometimes confused with the fourteen-spotted lady beetle (Propylea quatuordecimpunctata) and the Asian lady beetle (Harmonia axyridis), its unique pattern helps to distinguish it from other lady beetle species found in North America.

In a laboratory setting, the subspecies P. vigintimaculata taedata undergoes four larval instars, molting and then pupation. The timing of life cycle varies according to rearing conditions. The first instar larvae has a white oval body with small hairs projecting from the thorax. The larvae of the second instar have a stripe and a much darker color that gradually turns lighter with... Wikipedia →

Global Distribution

Parks Where Found

# Park Country Daily sighting probability
1 Great Smoky Mountains National Park 🇺🇸 United States
~10%
2 Shenandoah National Park 🇺🇸 United States
~10%
3 Channel Islands National Park 🇺🇸 United States
~10%
4 Olympic National Park 🇺🇸 United States
<5%

Cities Where Found

# City Country Daily sighting probability
1 Portland 🇺🇸 United States
~10%
2 Vancouver 🇨🇦 Canada
~10%
3 Boston 🇺🇸 United States
~10%
4 Zhuhai [Macau] 🇨🇳 China
~10%
5 Seattle 🇺🇸 United States
~10%
6 San Francisco 🇺🇸 United States
~10%
7 Toronto 🇨🇦 Canada
~10%
8 Edmonton 🇨🇦 Canada
~10%
9 Montreal 🇨🇦 Canada
~10%
10 Washington 🇺🇸 United States
~10%

Before you go

What are the chances of seeing a Twenty-Spotted Lady Beetle in Great Smoky Mountains National Park?

With luck

About 10% of wildlife watchers report a Twenty-Spotted Lady Beetle sighting in Great Smoky Mountains National Park on a given day, based on 35 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data from 2019 to 2026. It is the 146th most-seen of the 822 insects we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to about 20%, and over a week to about 50%, if each day is a fresh chance.

When is the best time to see a Twenty-Spotted Lady Beetle in Great Smoky Mountains National Park?

April

In that month about 20% of wildlife watchers report a Twenty-Spotted Lady Beetle in Great Smoky Mountains National Park on a given day, against under 5% in January, July–August and November, the lowest months.

What time of day is best to see a Twenty-Spotted Lady Beetle?

Between 9 am and noon

Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Twenty-Spotted Lady Beetle sightings with a recorded time, and about 8 in 10 of them come between 6 am and 6 pm: it is a daytime animal.

Is Great Smoky Mountains National Park the best place to see a Twenty-Spotted Lady Beetle?

Yes

Of the 4 parks where we can rate Twenty-Spotted Lady Beetle sightings, Great Smoky Mountains National Park has the highest daily chance: about 10%. Next come Shenandoah National Park (United States, about 10%) and Channel Islands National Park (United States, about 10%).

Which relatives of the Twenty-Spotted Lady Beetle live in Great Smoky Mountains National Park?

Same family: Coccinellidae

The closest relatives of the Twenty-Spotted Lady Beetle that you can see in Great Smoky Mountains National Park (family Coccinellidae, Lady Beetles) are Asian Lady Beetle (about 30%), Spotted Pink Lady Beetle (about 10%) and Seven-Spotted Lady Beetle (about 10%), with each one's daily chance of a sighting.

Where does the Twenty-Spotted Lady Beetle sighting chance come from?

GBIF citizen-science records

It is estimated from how often the Twenty-Spotted Lady Beetle is recorded against all the insects logged in Great Smoky Mountains National Park (35 verified sightings from 2019 to 2026), 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.

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