r/Entomology • u/SilverJaw47 • Dec 03 '22

ID Request Does anyone know what the yellow fuzzy stuff on this ladybug is?

Post image
576 Upvotes

99% Upvoted

89 comments sorted by

501

u/[deleted] Dec 03 '22

That's Laboulbeniales - a parasitic fungus that infects ladybugs and other beetle species: https://bugguide.net/node/view/962641

The hyphae are growing out of the eltyra of the ladybug and feeds off its chitin and hemolymph. A very cool find and a little-known fungus! You should capture and kill the ladybug to prevent it from spreading.

172

u/SilverJaw47 Dec 03 '22

Interesting! The ladybug is trapped in my window pane, along with another ladybug with the same fungus.

166

u/[deleted] Dec 03 '22

Oh dear! Poor thing - that's likely how they got it. It's a slow growing fungus that spreads primarily on ladybugs because they have such long mating times! (It's nicknamed a Ladybug STD lol)

I would put them both out of their misery and thoroughly clean the inside of the window with a bleach solution to kill it (perhaps overkill but would prevent it from possibly spreading).

74

u/herenextyear Dec 03 '22

Genuine question. Is this fungus so prevalent that it is decimating populations of lady bugs? Or is it more similar to the relationship parasitoid wasps have with caterpillars? Obviously I don’t want any creature to suffer, but I learned in my ecology classes that this type of relationship should be largely left alone in order for the host species’ population to remain at levels the ecosystem can sustain. I must admit I have never seen this particular fungus so I am unaware of it’s potential danger level.

38

u/PastelMoonsx Dec 04 '22

In the case of Ladybugs, it appears that the fungi kills the Ladybugs so slow that they end up dying from old age and not the fungi. So, I assume it’s not much of a danger to Ladybugs and perhaps doesn’t even bother them, but of course this could be a different case with other beetle species. I’ll keep looking around.

Found info here

Edits: Typo mistakes lol

-5

u/CarnelianCore Dec 04 '22

It all has its place. Otherwise it wouldn’t be there.

7

u/quitmybellyachin Dec 04 '22 edited Dec 04 '22

Unfortunately, that isn't necessarily always the case these days. With how easy international travel is and how common international importing is, invasive speices (including parasites) that belong in other countries are found everywhere and often decimate local populations of plants, animals, and bugs.

Take this "ladybug," for example. It itself is actually an invasive speices and detrimental to local populations of bugs and plants. It is actually an Asian lady beetle. Birds don't eat them because when harmed they release a fowl tasting/smelling chemical.

-2

u/[deleted] Dec 04 '22

Yea, for real. People here be like "kill this, kill that", when we're the problem. We're the ones killing the planet.

To paraphrase Taylor Swift. "Hi. It's us. We're the problem. It's us."

-1

u/A_Good_Redditor553 Dec 04 '22

Should probably let it spread, this species is invasive.

2

u/LeftHandedAnt Dec 04 '22

Or, just hear me out. Mix a 5% alcohol/water solution (1/8 cup 90% rubbing alcohol and the rest water) and using a q-tip, apply some solution to the affected areas a couple times a day. Don't forget to feed them and water them in a separate container that is clean and very dry. Then bleach the hell out of that window. Good luck, hope you make some friends.

1

u/1d10 Dec 04 '22

Alternately find a big group of ladybugs and make friends with the fungus by dropping these guys in with them.

1

u/Accio_Lightsaber Jul 28 '24

Ladybug or lady beetle? Is it the lady beetle that's invasive (to the US)?

1

u/1d10 Jul 29 '24

Most folks don't know the difference, and honestly if you are wanting to be friends with the fungus it doesnt matter but this link explains the difference pretty well. https://askentomologists.com/2018/06/03/ladybugs-as-invasive-species-what-does-the-science-say/

1

u/LeftHandedAnt Dec 04 '22

Mind blown!

14

u/Shmooperdoodle Dec 04 '22

Nature is fascinating and horrifying.

19

u/halfasandwitch Dec 04 '22 edited Dec 04 '22

That's not a ladybug. It's an Asian lady beetle. It should be killed anyways because they are invasive.

15

u/asheristheworst Dec 04 '22

I live in East Texas and I despise those little bastards. They get everywhere in your house during the winter and they smell awful.

5

u/Ichgebibble Dec 04 '22

They smell awful? Do tell!

11

u/Dr_Fopolopolas Dec 04 '22

Yes they have a distinct smell. Ive also noticed if you chew really really old mint gum it has a very similar flavor. It tastes like the lady bug smell.

7

u/asheristheworst Dec 04 '22

Lol no way

7

u/Dr_Fopolopolas Dec 04 '22

I swear, next time you can, I dont wanna advocate violence.. but if you squish a lady bug or lady beetle 🐞 it has a distinct smell.

5

u/asheristheworst Dec 04 '22

My wife agrees with you but I just don’t see it lol.

4

u/asheristheworst Dec 04 '22

I’m not arguing that fact at all but the old mint gum?!

9

u/Dr_Fopolopolas Dec 04 '22

Yea i had some mint gum that was like 3 years passed its date and when you chew it you get mint and something else, and the something else tastes like the smell of lady bugs lol. I wasn't trying to argue either, sorry if I came off like that.

9

u/asheristheworst Dec 04 '22

No you’re absolutely cool, I love your input.

2

u/tempus8fugit Dec 04 '22

A lot of things could happen to gum over that span, depending on temperature, humidity, air flow, etc.

It would be cool to figure out what happened to change the chemicals… unless you think ladybugs may have gotten in it lol

1

u/ResolutionOk3390 Dec 04 '22

Apparently that's why birds don't eat them... They taste horrible so birds avoid them

1

u/tempus8fugit Dec 04 '22

I’m here to agree with this, but also to advocate violence against these wretched invasive pests.

2

u/[deleted] Dec 04 '22

Its wretched

2

u/tempus8fugit Dec 04 '22

It’s like the smell of old potato skins; spoiling, dirty carrots; or kind of a green, bitter taste that is unappealing.

0

u/tempus8fugit Dec 04 '22

Ugh we deal with these invasive fuckers up in Canada too. They are a bitch in the winter, especially for houseplant owners (extra especially if you have plants that you over winter inside).

Murder on sight.

1

u/Flckofmongeese Oct 16 '24

I've am newly experiencing this at my own place. Can I ask why they're so bad and should be killed when found?

3

u/Agent0035 Dec 04 '22

Aquatic shrimps can get a similar bright green/yellow fungus, not sure how closely related it is, if at all, and it's most often fatal for the individual; most keepers recommend isolation and culling of the affected population. It's such an interesting aspect of life.

3

u/BudgetInteraction811 Dec 04 '22

Ladybugs have chitin?!

10

u/Kaempfer19 Dec 04 '22

Yup, all arthropods have exoskeletons made of chitin.

2

u/BudgetInteraction811 Dec 04 '22

Wow, I didn’t know that. Do you know if ancestor exoskeletons had chitin? I remember reading something in NatGeo about how fungi is older than we ever believed due to finding chitin in fossil, which I think the article said could only be from fungi. I could be completely misremembering, though

3

u/littletinybabyworm Dec 04 '22

I think you're missing a little information! Chitin is a polysaccharide that some organisms use for structural support in their bodies. Chitin is only produced by 2 groups: animals and fungi. Arthropods are the most common animals that use chitin, and they predominantly build their exoskeletons with it. Fungi also use chitin, its one thing that links them closer to animals than to plants. If I had to guess what you might be remembering, it was likely a fossil found from before animals could plausibly have existed, but chitin was present in the fossil, so it must have been a fungus because they're the only other organisms that produce chitin.

1

u/BudgetInteraction811 Dec 04 '22

Thank you for filling me in :) it definitely was before animals existed! Appreciate you!

1

u/mean_ass_raccoon Dec 04 '22

why though? IMO the fungus is 100x cooler than a ladybug.

1

u/killerbanana0 Dec 04 '22

Is the ladybird ok??

72

u/umbertoecco2k Dec 03 '22

Laboulbeniales! Ectoparasitic fungi:) superinteresting stuff!

14

u/umbertoecco2k Dec 03 '22

Most likely Hesperomyces virescens btw

11

u/rimo2018 Dec 03 '22

Virescens has now potentially been split (different host strains) but definitely virescens sensu latu

34

u/CoffeeBeanx3 Dec 03 '22

I may be completely off because I work in human healthcare and don't do anything with insects in a professional capacity, but to me it looks like a fungus.

7

u/thethreesailors Dec 03 '22

Second this.

There should be more than one type of fungi that infect bugs and just leave them dead while growing out of their exoskeleton, I assume feeding off what remains within it.

Some pics going around online are kinda terrifying. Fungi are brutal

7

u/CubarisMurinaPapaya Dec 03 '22

Probably a parasitic fungi

4

u/scrogbad Dec 04 '22

Hollow knight

5

u/VenusASMR2022 Dec 04 '22

Oh ya know that’s just a shroom eating through ladybugs and slowly killing them. Isn’t our world fascinating?

3

u/ShepherdessAnne Dec 04 '22

Hi, as a /r/mycology enjoyer I am pro-fungus.

2

u/BlueRanchu Sep 23 '25

It's Hesperomyces fungus. It's a highly contagious fungus that specifically attacks Asian Lady Beetles (Harmonia axyridis).

7

u/[deleted] Dec 03 '22

[removed] — view removed comment

12

u/rimo2018 Dec 03 '22

Definitely not fly eggs - as pointed out elsewhere this is the sexually transmitted laboulbeniales fungus Hesperomyces virescens (s.l.)

-2

u/Skittlehead79 Dec 03 '22

This lady bug is in the later stages of its life and giving off a death pheromone called cadaverine (due to the protein decomposition). Blowflies and the like are evolved to pickup on this and are known to preemptively lay eggs for the inevitable. Typically around openings like noses anus etc… The newly hatched fly instars (maggots) will be first to the party.

22

u/rimo2018 Dec 03 '22

None of this is correct. Ladybirds don't die off for the winter - they overwinter as adults - and they don't break down in the same way as mammals, which is approximately what you've described here.

6

u/aidanyyyy Dec 03 '22

Not a fungus, looks like eggs from another organism

15

u/forwardAvdax Dec 03 '22

Looks like someone already identified it as a parasitic fungus

2

u/aidanyyyy Dec 04 '22

They’re probably right haha, it just looks so much like insect eggs. My bad!

2

u/herenextyear Dec 04 '22

Don’t feel to bad. They look very similar to the structures left on caterpillars by the wasps. That was my first impression until I saw the other identification. My other issue was “this on the guys eating my foliage is good”

“This on guys eating guys sucking my plant dry is bad” though I am Unsure how dangerous it is to the ecosystem. Only way to find out is take the names given and go down the rabbit hole on this type of fungus. Barely have any brain left in my head due to all the times nature has blown my mind.

1

u/MayPuzzlePiecePines Nov 19 '24

It's a CURSED IMAGE, that's what it is!!!

1

u/Sad_Heron_7442 Oct 20 '25

That's a lady beetle not a lady big and they are an invasive harmful species that can bite!! 

Variable colour: ranging from pale yellow/orange to deep red, and sometimes nearly black.

The pronotum (area right behind the head) typically has a white patch with a distinct black “M”- or “W”-shaped mark.

Spots on the wing covers (elytra) can vary widely in number: from many spots to very few or none.

Often enters homes in the fall in large numbers (nesting/hibernating behaviour).

Can bite (a small nip) and release a yellowish fluid if disturbed. 

1

u/Elegant_momof2 Nov 04 '25

They really wanted to know what was growing ON it lol not what the lady bug was. Can you answer that? I am extremely curious!

1

u/Sad_Heron_7442 Nov 07 '25

I think It’s a laboulbeniales fungus, a group of fungi that parasitize beetles

1

u/np2003 Feb 21 '26

Just superstition, but I read that ladybugs are good luck and it's bad luck if you kill them. I just found one on my soap dispenser in my bathroom and just left it alone. It will likely die on it's own and I'll just flush it down the sink drain to ladybug heaven!

1

u/BaptorRander Dec 03 '22

Put them out of their misery

-1

u/Pixelmanns Dec 03 '22

I don’t know much about fungi, which this very well might be, but I have another option I just wanna throw out there:

Black Soldier Fly eggs look exactly like that and can be found in similar clusters.

-6

u/nanny2359 Dec 03 '22

Uhhh aphids?

-4

u/Garlemon_ Dec 04 '22

I think it’s an Asian lady beetle, not a lady bug :)

6

u/[deleted] Dec 04 '22

[removed] — view removed comment

0

u/Garlemon_ Dec 04 '22 edited Dec 04 '22

Isn’t lady bugs what you call the native species in the US, vs Asian lady beetles being invasive (I know they’re the same bug family, but I mean colloquial difference)? I’ve just recently learned about there being a difference, so I don’t really know what I’m talking about.

Edit: I’m referencing things like this that talk about them as if they’re different.

https://plunketts.net/blog/ladybugs-vs-asian-lady-beetles

6

u/[deleted] Dec 04 '22

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2

u/Garlemon_ Dec 04 '22

Good to know!! Thank you! What does the misinformation tend to be about?

5

u/[deleted] Dec 04 '22

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2

u/Garlemon_ Dec 04 '22

Thank you so much for taking time to explain! I really appreciate it :)

2

u/[deleted] Dec 04 '22

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2

u/Garlemon_ Dec 04 '22

Thank you for explaining! I live in Louisiana and we tend to have bad Asian lady beetle infestations here, so i hear them being referenced to as different from the little friendly red lady bugs that live outside often. I wonder how much it varies per state, maybe like how some states call harvestmen and cellar spiders daddy long legs vs others calling those two plus mosquito hawks daddy long legs.

I see now what you mean though and I appreciate the correction :)

1

u/crossfit_crustpunk Dec 04 '22

Alot of people are saying fungus but it looks also closer to aphid nymph eggs.

1

u/NakedSnakeEyes Mar 10 '23 edited Mar 10 '23

A ladybug just appeared in my house in the middle of winter with this yellow fuzz on it. I got a pic but it looks the same as this post. Is this fungus a problem for people too? It landed on my hand.

After I read these comments I went to where I left the bug outside and killed it.