Epilachna varivestis
In 3 days ~10% in a week ~30%
The Mexican bean beetle (Epilachna varivestis) is a species of lady beetle that can be an agricultural pest. It is one of the few North American lady beetles that feed on plants rather than other insects. It is found throughout Mexico and the eastern United States, and is abundant in the wetter and more heavily irrigated areas west of the Rocky Mountains. It does not tolerate extremely dry areas.
Adults are similar in appearance to other lady beetles, oval-shaped, approximately 6 to 7 millimeters long and bearing eight black spots on each elytron. Adult color is quite variable, ranging from bright red to rusty brown to golden yellow. The eggs are yellow, about 1.3 millimeters in length, and glued in clusters of up to 75 on the undersides of leaves. The larvae are usually yellow, spiny, and pill-shaped. Each is approximately 1.6 millimeters in length when first emerged, and grows to about centimeter length before pupation.
Mexican bean beetle is present in the United States and found in most eastern states of the United States and Mexico. It can be found as far south as Guatemala and north into southern Canada or New England. The Mexican bean beetle... Wikipedia →
| # | Park | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Shenandoah National Park | 🇺🇸 United States |
More parks will be added in future updates.
| # | City | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Washington | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 2 | New York City | 🇺🇸 United States |
With luck
About 10% of wildlife watchers report a Mexican Bean Beetle sighting in Shenandoah National Park on a given day, based on 7 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data from 2019 to 2026. It is the 447th most-seen of the 723 insects we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to about 10%, and over a week to about 30%, if each day is a fresh chance.
May–July and October
In those months about 10% of wildlife watchers report a Mexican Bean Beetle in Shenandoah National Park on a given day, against under 5% in August–September and November–April, the lowest months.
Between 11 am and 2 pm
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Mexican Bean Beetle sightings with a recorded time, and nearly all of them come between 6 am and 6 pm: it is a daytime animal.
Only Shenandoah National Park, in our data
Shenandoah National Park is the only park on Wallace's Line with enough records to rate Mexican Bean Beetle sightings: about 10% of wildlife watchers there report one on a given day.
Same family: Coccinellidae
The closest relatives of the Mexican Bean Beetle that you can see in Shenandoah National Park (family Coccinellidae, Lady Beetles) are Asian Lady Beetle (about 30%), Seven-Spotted Lady Beetle (about 20%) and Spotted Pink Lady Beetle (about 10%), with each one's daily chance of a sighting.
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Mexican Bean Beetle is recorded against all the insects logged in Shenandoah National Park (7 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.
