Two-spotted Lady Beetle Adalia bipunctata

Here's a surprising fact: this ladybird is carnivorous, hunting down tiny soft-bodied insects like aphids with impressive efficiency. Found throughout the northern hemisphere in staggering numbers—especially in western and central Europe where it's extremely common—this beetle has become so valued that humans deliberately import and breed it as a biological control agent. It's bittersweet, though: in North America, where it's actually native, populations have crashed in many states and provinces, likely due to competition from introduced species.