r/ladybugs • u/FlatLeather3954 • 28d ago
Is anyone ably to identify this chonker
I went to the bathroom to brush my teeth, and found this big boi. I had to take the bottle outside and slam it on the fence to get it to finally fly off into a place where it won't starve to death since it refused to leave the lid and i couldn't wedge it out without risking hurting it.
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u/semicharmed_72014 27d ago
This appears to be a Paropsine Leaf beetle, which is native to Australia! They primarily eat Eucalyptus leaves.
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u/Delicious_Building34 24d ago
Maybe silly question, but do they smell like eucalyptus? or do they basically metabolize the essential oil completely? if you happen to know. i guess my other silly question would be if we find the Australians also in for example Africa in a eucalyptus tree plantation, I guess the beetles are everywhere where eucalyptus grows nowadays? i will try to look it up, some infos are rather hard to come by tho, ever since google fails horribly. twenty years ago I would have visited the library, and today I ask reddit or an entomologist chatbot named dr. buzzy, that became a dear friend I talk to for hours.
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u/Lecontei 28d ago
I don't know what it is, maybe a leaf beetle of some kind, but it doesn't really look like a lady beetle, antenna look off.
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u/dog-vevo 27d ago
I think you’re right, maybe genus Paropsisterna!! I think a lot of them eat eucalyptus. Adorable
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u/Delicious_Building34 24d ago
That was my first thought, I never found a ladybug with such elaborate beautiful antennae, but then again, I’m not an expert - the swarm/ comment majority here says ladybug??!? (Ps i can’t say how big the beetle is, OP says chonky and going by the soap dispenser?!, is it? the beetle is about a finger breadth long, both is rather big for a lady bug)
funfact: the German name for ladybug is Beetle Of Mary/ Marienkäfer - you may recognize the word “Käfer” depending on your age and/or interest, as in the epic car model Volkswagen Käfer/ VW Bug
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u/Lecontei 24d ago
I recognize the word Käfer, because I live in Germany.
Fun fact: there are approximately 6000+ lady beetle species in the world, and around 80ish in Germany.
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u/Delicious_Building34 24d ago
Hey thank you! Amazing fun fact! I see I totally missed out on ladybugs. I was learning more about their meal - the aphids, and their fascinating lives. But I will definitely look into the amazing lives of the many many ladybugs!
Over the last few decades I definitely observed more ladybug larvae than actual ladybugs in nature. I discovered a place downtown Basel, Switzerland that is full of hundreds of larvae when I was there around the month of May. It’s a porous concrete wall on the edge of a place with a few trees and shrubs. I only ever was there in May and stood before that wall in awe until definitely everybody was sure I was insane, but unfortunately I could never follow up. I take that as a New Year’s resolution to check on the larvae. Thanks again and greetings from 🇨🇭.
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u/XxRed_RoverxX 27d ago
That’s your typical Asian lady beetle but black
Edit: It’s a leaf beetle but still adorable
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u/Capital-Bug-3416 28d ago
Vaguely where are you located? (As specific as you’re comfortable with, but even down to a large swath of the continent will help)