Morphs and forms
The ten-spotted ladybird (Adalia decempunctata) is one of the most variable species within the family Coccinellidae; the literature distinguishes between three genetically determined colour morphs, which occur alongside one another within the population, including cases of gradual colour transitions.
- The typical form (f. typica / decempunctata) has elytra that are yellow, orange or red with 0 to 15 dark spots (chestnut to black), which often merge. The basic pattern consists of six spots in a row down the centre of the elytra and one spot on each shoulder (Figs. 01–10, 14–31).
- The chequered form (f. decempustulata) has elytra that are light brown, beige to blackish-brown with a coarse, grid-like, chequerboard pattern. This pattern consists of five pairs of large, irregular light-coloured spots, the shoulder spots of which often extend to the lateral edge of the elytra (Figs. 13, 32–53).
- The melanic form (f. bipustulata / bimaculata) has elytra that are purple, dark brown to black, with only two yellow, orange or red shoulder spots (kidney-shaped) beneath the shoulder tubercles (Figs. 12–12, 54–63).
Common characteristics of all forms include a body length of approximately 3.5–5 mm, a whitish pronotum with dark spots, which may merge, and brown legs, by which the species is distinguished from the two-spotted ladybird (Adalia bipunctata), which has black legs. In Czech populations, the long-term average was approximately 29 per cent of the typical form, 42 per cent of the chequered form and 21 per cent of the dark form. In addition to these three basic morphs, taxonomic databases and identification literature also list other named forms, such as f. guttatopunctata, f. lutea, f. quadripunctata, f. scribai, f. subpunctata and f. terna.
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Sources
- Benisch, C. (2023): kerbtier.de – Beetle Fauna of Germany. – https://www.kerbtier.de/enindex.html (24.10.2026)
- Biological Library; https://www.biolib.cz/
- Ivo Hodek, H. F. van Emden, Alois Honěk: Ecology and behaviour of the ladybird beetles (Coccinellidae), John Wiley & Sons, Ltd, 2012, ISBN: 978-1-4051-8422-9
- Alois Honěk, Zdeňka Martinková, Stano Pekár: Temporal stability of morph frequency in central European populations of Adalia bipunctata and A. decempunctata (Coleoptera: Coccinellidae); Eur. J. Entomol. 102 (3): 437-442, 2005; DOI: 10.14411/eje.2005.062
- David W. Langor, Shawn Abraham, Barry Hicks and H.E. James Hammond: Adalia decempunctata (Coleoptera: Coccinellidae), a Palaearctic species now established in North America; The Canadian Entomologist (2023), 155, e35, 1–11; doi:10.4039/tce.2023.23
