Enantiomerically pure (+)-calvine (1a) and (+)-2-epicalvine (1b), two piperidine alkaloids isolated from ladybird beetles of the genus Calvia (Coccinellidae), were synthesized by two different strategies starting from (−)-2,3,6,7,8,8a-hexahydro-3-phenyl-5H-[1,3]oxazolo[3,2-a]pyridine-5-carbonitrile (2).The key steps of these syntheses are the stereocontrolled formation of an asymmetric centre α to the nitrogen atom of