It is not just any bug, but the native nine-spotted ladybug. And its reappearance is something of a relief, because it is the official New York State (insect)., even though the last recorded sighting of it in New York was 29 years ago.

Its absence had not gone completely unnoticed. There was a moment in 2006 when the State Assembly, realizing that the state insect had left the state, tried to (replace) it with a different species of ladybug, an attempt that fortunately fell victim to legislative inaction.

And now — after all these years — the state insect has been (found). Like so many other New Yorkers, it was seen summering in Amagansett.

Peter Priolo, a volunteer participant in an effort called the Lost Ladybug Project, found the ladybug on July 30 in a patch of sunflowers during a group search he had organized.

“I didn’t realize it was a nine-spotted when I found it,” Mr. Priolo said. He was on his way to do an end-of-the-day ladybug tally, so, he said, “I put it in my jar and hurried back to meet with everybody.”

John Losey, the Cornell University entomologist who runs the (project), said in an interview this week that not only was Mr. Priolo’s find a confirmed nine-spotted ladybug, but that it was also not a loner. Two weeks after the first find, Dr. Losey said, he collected enough ladybugs at the site to establish a colony that is now thriving and reproducing in his lab in Ithaca.