Mealybug ladybird
Villa Olga, Santiago De Los Caballeros, Dominican Republic.
![Mealybug ladybird](/content/images/size/w1200/2022/06/Mealybug-ladybird-1.jpeg)
Species | Genus | Family |
---|---|---|
Cryptolaemus montrouzieri | Cryptolaemus | Coccinellidae |
Order | Class | Phylum |
Coleoptera | Insecta | Arthopoda |
The adults and larvae of these insects eat scale insects, especially mealybugs. Female ladybirds lay small groups of eggs among the cottony egg masses of mealybugs and by scale insects. A larva hatches from each egg. It is covered with white flocculent wax and looks like a woolly mealybug, camouflaging themselves like a wolf in sheep's clothing.[1]
![](https://magnified.co/content/images/2022/06/DSC_0978-1.jpeg)