[OC] Ladybug on a flowering maple (Harmonia axyridis)

Ladybug, ladybeetle and ladybird are all interchangeable common names for basically all small red and black coccinellid beetles. The article you shared doesn't list which one they are talking about when they mention "real" ladybugs, but they probably mean Coccinella septempunctata. Both are introduced in the US, Harmonia axyridis from Asia and Coccinella septempunctata from Europe. Neither are native, neither have been classed as invasive, both are ladybugs both are beneficial. https://fullcirclefarm.blog/2023/05/01/dismantling-the-myth-about-the-asian-lady-beetle/