About Myrrha octodecimguttata (Linnaeus, 1758)
The eighteen-spotted ladybird (Myrrha octodecimguttata), also called 18-spot ladybird, is a species of beetle in the genus Myrrha, within the ladybird family. This species primarily lives in pine forests and mixed deciduous-conifer forests, inhabiting the upper canopy and feeding on aphids. It favours old pines, and in Germany, it breeds in the crowns of pine trees. M. octodecimguttata also occurs on high bogs in the West Siberian Plain and East Siberian taiga. Adult individuals overwinter in aggregations under peeled bark and in crevices at the bases of old pine trunks. The species usually reaches 4 to 5 millimetres (0.16 to 0.20 inches) in length. Its documented distribution includes Europe, North Africa, European Russia, the Caucasus, Siberia, the Russian Far East, Belarus, Ukraine, Transcaucasia, Kazakhstan, Western Asia, and Mongolia.
