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What is this bug?

enter image description here

Details: - Georgia, (Southern) USA - Maybe 1-4cm in size - Seen near an open area/crack between an outer door-frame and door where it could have come from outside, or going from inside to outside since the temperature difference was noticeable in this area.

Thanks in advance!

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  • $\begingroup$ Deffo isnt a grasshopper. A window louse? $\endgroup$
    – bandybabboon
    Dec 25, 2019 at 16:49
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    $\begingroup$ It's almost certainly a harlequin ladybird (Harmonia axyridis). Well, that's the usual name for it in British English, I think Americans would refer to it as the Asian ladybeetle or Asian ladybug. The spot patterns for that particular ladybird species vary quite a bit so I'll need to do some googling to confirm. $\endgroup$
    – Astrid_Redfern
    Dec 25, 2019 at 18:36

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(Note: I'm going to be using the British English "ladybird" instead of the US English "ladybug" in this answer.)

This is a clearly a species of ladybird. Going by the number of spots, their size and not-perfectly-round shape, the positioning of the four central spots relative to the others, and the fact that its background colour isn't bright yellow... I'm pretty sure it's Harmonia axyridis, the species that us Brits refer to as a "Harlequin ladybird". I think Americans refer to it as an "Asian ladybug" or "Asian ladybeetle".

The spot patterns for this particular species vary a lot, as to some extent do the colours, so I've googled for images to support this answer. The below picture was posted to:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Harmonia_axyridis01.jpg

and is the IP of a user or organisation called Entomart. On the Wikipedia page and on their homepage, Entomart grant permission for the use of the image as long as they are given proper attribution, so I'm able to include it in this answer:

Various different individuals of the species Harmonia axyridis. Copyright owner is Entomart, see www.entomart.be

For more pictures of the Harlequin (again, showing how much the spot pattern and colouration vary), see:

https://scx2.b-cdn.net/gfx/news/hires/2018/amechanismof.jpg

For pictures of other ladybird species to compare the Harlequin with - as also one more of the Harlequin:

https://www.naturespot.org.uk/taxonomy/term/19357

Thanks for posting this question! I didn't expect to see a ladybird on Christmas Day :-)

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