Ladybug on steroids?

Okay, it's obviously not a ladybug, but what is it? I poked around online and in BugFiles, but nothing I saw fits the bill. the closest thing I found was this: http://davesgarden.com/bf/showimage/320/ , but I don't think that's it. I found 4 of them, and they all had that distinctive triangle on their backs.

So...good bug or bad bug? I've suddenly had lots of eating on my hibiscus and brugs, and I'm not sure if he's doing the chomping, or chomping the chompers, if you know what I mean...

I'd say these are at least 2-3x the size of ladybugs.

A close up of some of the damage.

I've been looking throughout the day to see what I could find, and I did see a few of these in the early morning, but didn't have a camera handy. They disappeared all day, seem to be back at night.

Any help appreciated- thanks!

It's a harlequin bug.

http://www.ivyhall.district96.k12.il.us/4th/kkhp/1insects/harlequin.html

Well from reading from that link, I do not think it is the one eating your leaves. It seems to suck the leaves dead, not make holes.

"Damage - Adults and nymphs pierce stalks, leaves, and veins with their needle-like mouthparts and extract plant juices. Stems and leaves injured in this manner develop irregular cloudy spots around the puncture wound"

Nope, looks like he's not the one, although he's still not one you'd want to have around. Thanks for the help..any idea how to get rid of him without also killing off the huge bunch of real ladybugs we released to deal with the awful aphid situation?

Ever wonder what 10,000 ladybugs look like? This is more like 7,500 as some had already been released, but we thought it was still pretty amazing...

oh how cool Tess

Really, a great picture! LOL!!

Thanks!
I was a little wary of ordering them by mail, but they came with instructions to keep them in the fridge until ready to release, and to do them over a space of a few nights.

I guess the cold makes them go into a sort of hibernation, because out of 10,000 of the critters , only 5 were dead at the bottom of the bag. Pretty amazing, given that they were shipped, and kept for an additional 3 days total in the fridge with no food inside the bag that I could see.

It must be time to do it again because the aphids are making a comeback.

That must make them so hungry! LOL.

But I understand they fly away very soon after released.