- <p>Rhizobius lophanthae, Family: Coccinellidae </p> <p><i>Super tiny 3mm hairy lady bird, found feeding on mealy bug mass, on underside of Teak leaf, shot with diffused internal flash.</i> </p> <p>Classical biological control involves the introduction of a pest's natural enemies to a new locale where they do not occur naturally. This is usually done by government authorities. This beetle was supposedly introduced in India to bio-control a sugarcane pest, a scale insect (Melanaspis glomerata). </p> <p>Singular Black Lady Beetle (Rhizobius lophanthae syn. Lindorus lophanthae), is used for the control and management of various scale insects. These lady beetles, with their small, fuzzy black bodies and dull-orange head/thorax region, love scale insects. They can clean up large populations. And, as most beetles are, Rhizobius lophanthae are very opportunistic and will eat pests other than scales: mealybugs (their crawlers or immature forms), insect eggs, etc. </p> <p>The life-span of these predators is roughly 3 weeks in their immature stages, then 5-8 weeks as adults. </p> <p>The smallish 2.5 mm. adult female beetles lay their eggs underneath scale insects — hundreds of them. The eggs hatch into small gray larvae. These, too, are fierce predators, growing up to 3 mm. long and consuming vast numbers of small scale crawlers and eggs (they’ll always eat the youngest, most tender morsels first). </p> <p>These singular black lady beetles are pretty tough and have an excellent ability to chew right through the hard covers of both armored and soft scales. </p> <p>Common names: Lindorus Lady Beetle, Singular Black Lady Beetle, Scale Destroyer </p> <p>Identification: Much smaller than convergent ladybugs, with velvety black wing covers and a deep reddish-orange head, thorax, and abdomen. The larvae are dark gray and shaped like other lady beetle larvae and have light-colored bands running lengthwise along the abdomen. </p> <p>Biology and life cycle: The life cycle is thirty-five to sixty days, depending on the temperature. The beetles do not hibernate in cold temperatures or low light as other insects do. Adults are active down to 5 degrees Celsius.<br></p> © arian.suresh from Chennai, India - CC BY 2.0 - Wikimedia Commons