CLASSIFICATION  Kingdom:AnimaliaAnimalia  Phylum:ArthropodaArthropoda  Class:InsectaInsecta  Order:ColeopteraColeoptera  Family:CoccinellidaeCoccinellidae  Genus:Epilachna  Species:E. vigintioctopunctata

 Henosepilachna vigintioctopunctata is a species of beetle in the family Coccinellidae. It is commonly known as the 28-spotted potato ladybird or the Hadda beetle.It feeds on the foliage of potatoes and other solanaceous crops. It originated in the far east of Russia. It was previously called Epilachna vigintioctopunctata and is a cryptic species complexbeetleCoccinellidaepotatoessolanaceousRussiacryptic species complex

ADULT  The body of the 28-spotted potato ladybird is nearly round, convex, glossy and up to seven millimetres long. It is reddish-brown with thirteen black spots on each elytron and one or more on each side of the thorax. The eggs are yellow, about 1.5 millimetres long and are placed on the undersides of leaves in batches of ten to sixty five eggs. The oval larvae and pupae are yellow- green decorated with black branched thorny appendices. The beetles and larvae live openly on the leaves, eating the soft tissues between the veins. The female ladybird may produce 300 to 400 eggselytroneggslarvaepupaeleaves

 The development stages are completed in four to six weeks under optimal conditions. The larvae pupate on the leaves and young beetles of the new generation feed intensively for one to two weeks to build up their fatty tissue. Only adults are capable of over- wintering. They usually hibernate under fallen leaves at the edges of woods, in bushes or under plant residues in fieldshibernate

DAMAGE  This species causes damage to agricultural crops in the three families Solanaceae (potato, tomato, aubergine and pepper), Cucurbitaceae (cucumber, melon, water-melon and pumpkin) andFabaceae (soya and haricot beans). However the optimal host plant for the reproduction of over- wintered beetles and the development of their larvae is the potato. The loss in yield of potato tubers may reach 25% in heavy infestations. Control is by the use of resistant varieties of plants, crop rotation, the growing of solanaceous crops in open windy locations, the destruction of all plant residues and the use of pesticides when necessarySolanaceaeCucurbitaceaeFabaceae