User:Cara.begley/Coccinella septempunctata/AshleyMasse Peer Review

Lead
The flow of the first sentence could be improved. I would also move the explanation of the scientific name closer to the scientific name. There should be a citation after the sentence with the explanation of the scientific name...unless that was knowledge you already had.

For example:

Coccinella septempunctata is known as the seven-spot lady bird in the U.K. and the seven-spot ladybug or C-7 in North America. Its elytra are a red colour and each punctuated with three black spots with one further spot being spread over the junction of the two elytra. This makes a total of seven spots, from which the species derives both its common and scientific names (from the Latin septem = "seven" and punctus = "spot"). It is a carnivorous beetle native to the old world and present in Europe (where it is the most common ladybird), Central and Eastern Asia, and other regions with a temperate climate.

Content
You could split the header into two headers, one for ecology and one for biology. You seem to talk about both under the one header, biology. What does "overwinter" mean? Is it a synonym for hibernate? This may not be clear to readers. I would rearrange the sentences to improve flow.

For example:

Ecology

C. septempunctata has a broad ecological range determined by the presence of its food source. They eat aphids, they also feed on Thysanoptera, Aleyrodidae, on the larvae of Psyllidae and Cicadellidae, and on eggs and larvae of some beetles and butterflies. This diet, and thus the ladybugs, can be found amongst other biotopes, meadows, fields, Pontic–Caspian steppe, parkland, gardens, Western European broadleaf forests and mixed forests. Adults overwinter in ground litter in parks, gardens and forest edges and under tree bark and rocks. In the United Kingdom, there are fears that the seven-spot ladybird is being out competed for food by the harlequin ladybird.

Biology

An adult seven-spot ladybird may reach a body length of 7.6–12.7 mm (0.3–0.5 in). Their distinctive spots and conspicuous colors warn of their toxicity, making them unappealing to predators. The species can secrete a fluid from joints in their legs which gives them a foul taste. A threatened ladybird may both play dead and secrete the unappetizing substance to protect itself. The seven-spot ladybird synthesizes the toxic alkaloids, N-oxide coccinelline and its free base precoccinelline; depending on sex and diet, the spot size and coloration can provide some indication of how toxic the individual insect is to potential predators.

Colors and unappetizing were spelled wrong. I would scrap the distribution section, it bugs me..haha get it?... how you talk about where the ladybug lives in the introduction and then list a bunch of places after the concept had already talked about. If you want to keep the detail, you can find a way to incorporate that information into the introduction.

For the interactions with humans section, I would split the sub headers into biological control introductions, then create a new sub header for infestations, and then in culture has its own heading.

Tone and Balance
There is a good use of the neutral tone. Some sentences could be rearranged and combined/split to create better flow. There are no claims or over represented viewpoints. It is a very informing article with no use of persuasion.

Sources and References
All sources look like peer reviewed articles, books, or other credible publications. Make sure there is a citation after every informative thing you say. There was one instance where you didn't have a citation after talking about biotopes.

Organization
To create smoother flow I suggest rearranging sentences around like I gave examples for above. The biology header could be split up into an ecology and biology header and the sub headers, biological control introductions and infestations could be separated.

Pictures
There is one picture where it gives a fact instead of a description of the picture, I would change it to say "Coccinella septempunctata feeding on pollen". The mating and larva picture could also use a more detailed description that includes the name of the ladybug.

Overall Impressions
There are changes that can be made to improve the sentence structure of the article. Otherwise it is very informative and the information given is all specific to this species of ladybug. The language used is clear with only a few spelling errors.

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