ccinellids range in size from 0.8 to 18 mm (0.03–0.7 in). Females tend to be larger than males. They are generally oval with domed backs and flattened undersides. They have large compound eyes and clubbed antennae with seven to eleven segments. The powerful mandibles (equivalent to jaws) typically have pairs of "teeth" which face each other. The coccinellid prothorax (front of thorax) is broad and convex, and can cover the back of the head. Being beetles, they have hardened, non-overlapping forewings, known as elytrons, which cover up the more fragile, hindwings when the insects are not in flight. Their legs are relatively short, with a tarsal formula of 4-4-4 or 3-3-3. The tarsus (end of leg) has two claws at the tip. As adults, these beetles differ from their closest relatives with the following morphological characteristics: Five pairs of spiracles (holes) on the abdomen A tentorium (internal supports inside the head) with separated branches at the front and no bridge No line dividing the frons and clypeus (frontoclypeal suture) Maxillary palps with non-needle-shaped tips, Divided galea and lacinia (lobes at the end of the mouthparts) Smaller molar (flattened) area of the mandible Coxal cavities (holes where the leg articulates with the thorax) that open from the back in the front of the thorax and from the front in the middle of the thorax Epimeron (corner plates) on the metathorax with parallel edges Lines on the second abdominal sternum Tube-shaped, siphon-like genitalia in the male Coccinellids are often distinctively coloured and patterne
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