The ladybugs from Earth's Birthday are hippodamia convergens--a
beneficial insect found in North America. Releasing yours will do no
harm and may do your local gardens a great deal of good!
Hippodamia convergens eats aphids, mites, mealybugs, small
caterpillars, insect eggs and pollen. The food in the bottom of
your changing room is a mixture of pollen and moth eggs.
Kingdom:
Animalia
(animals)
Phylum:
Arthropoda
(invertebrates with segmented body, jointed limbs, and
chitinous shell: e.g. lobsters, crabs, insects, millipedes,
centipedes, spiders)
Subphylum:
Uniramia
(chiefly terrestrial arthropoda, with antennae and upper
and lower jaws: e.g. insects, millipedes, centipedes)
Class:
Insecta
(insects)
Family:
Coleoptera
(beetles)
Genus:
Coccinellidae
(little spheres)
Species:
Hippodamia convergens
(notice how the white streaks on their pronotums seem
to be converging)
