Family Coccinellidae

Bodenheimer (Animal Life in Palestine, 1925) has this to say about this family:
The Ladybirds (Coccinellidae) are well known as beneficial insects. Their larvae and beetles in general feed on other insects. Only the 12-spotted Epilachna chrysomelina develops in five generations on cucurbitaceous plants from May to October.
The 7-spotted Ladybird Coccinella septempunctata which feeds on aphids has only two generations, one of which passes the winter as adults.In April, large numbers of this Ladybird assemble on the tops of the higher mountains and here they pass the summer in semi-torpor. In the autumn they disperse again over the whole country.
The two-spotted Ladybird Chilocorus bipustualatus is a common feeder on scale insects of orange and ornamental trees. The Ladybird Novius cardinalis which has been introduced into the country intentionally, feeds on the australian fluted Scale (which was unintenionally introduced into Palestine), and is combatting its spread successfully.
The economic importance of Coccinella, Chilocorus, and others is, however generally greatly overestimated by the average farmer in Palestine.

Many of the Coccinellids in the collection at Bet Dagan were donated by Dr. M. Kehat of the Agricultural Research Organization, Institute of Plant Protection.