Harmonia Axyridis - Description

Description

Harmonia axyridis is a "typical" coccinellid beetle in shape and structure, being domed and having a "smooth" transition between its elytra (wing coverings), pronotum and head. It occurs in three main color forms: red or orange with black spots (known as form succinea); black with four red spots (form spectabilis); and black with two red spots (form conspicua). However, numerous intermediate and divergent forms have also been recorded. The beetle is typically large for a coccinellid (7–8 mm long) and even more dome-shaped than native European species. These characteristics distinguish H. axyridis from native species in the UK.

A useful informal clue for distinguishing this species from most other Coccinellidae is that the pronotum of most colour forms of Harmonia axyridis have white markings that typically define an "M"-shaped black area, as seen on a beetle resting head-upwards (or "W"-shaped if it is head-down). Usually they also have brown or reddish legs.

Read more about this topic:  Harmonia Axyridis

Famous quotes containing the word description:

    Why does philosophy use concepts and why does faith use symbols if both try to express the same ultimate? The answer, of course, is that the relation to the ultimate is not the same in each case. The philosophical relation is in principle a detached description of the basic structure in which the ultimate manifests itself. The relation of faith is in principle an involved expression of concern about the meaning of the ultimate for the faithful.
    Paul Tillich (1886–1965)

    The type of fig leaf which each culture employs to cover its social taboos offers a twofold description of its morality. It reveals that certain unacknowledged behavior exists and it suggests the form that such behavior takes.
    Freda Adler (b. 1934)

    Whose are the truly labored sentences? From the weak and flimsy periods of the politician and literary man, we are glad to turn even to the description of work, the simple record of the month’s labor in the farmer’s almanac, to restore our tone and spirits.
    Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)