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Category Archives: ladybird

185/366 Grounded

03 Friday Jul 2020

Posted by sconzani in insects, ladybird, nature

≈ 2 Comments

Tags

7-spot ladybird, British ladybirds, ladybirds, Seven-spot ladybird

This is a bit of a sad story. During yesterday’s walk, I spotted this Seven-spot ladybird sitting on a leaf alongside the path.

200703 7spot ladybird (1)

It was acting a bit strangely: opening its elytra (wing cases), raising its abdomen, shutting its elytra, over and over again. It took me a minute to realise that it only seemed to have one full-size wing; the other appeared stunted or perhaps it had been damaged and was no longer able to be extended.

200703 7spot ladybird (2)

I presume the ladybird was trying to remedy the problem through its movements but they didn’t seem to have any effect, and I fear this ladybird may be forever grounded.

200703 7spot ladybird (3)

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95/366 The buzz of new life

04 Saturday Apr 2020

Posted by sconzani in insects, ladybird, nature, spring

≈ 2 Comments

Tags

bees, British insects, bumblebees, flies, hoverflies

It only takes a few sunny days and warming temperatures to bring out the mini-beasties. These are some of the bees and bumbles, flies and hoverflies I’ve spotted over the past week or so. Oh, and I mustn’t forget, my first 7-spot ladybird of the season.

200404 1 tree bumble
200404 2 Melanostoma scalare hoverfly
200404 3 buff-tailed bumblebee
200404 4 buff-tailed bumblebee
200404 5 eristalis pertinax
200404 6 unknown bee
200404 7 eristalis pertinax
200404 8 lasioglossum sp
200404 9 nomada sp bee
200404 10 hairy-footed flower bee
200404 11 buff-tailed bumblebee
200404 12 hoverfly
200404 13 buff-tailed bumblebee
200404 14 fly
200404 15 7-spot ladybird
200404 16 fly
200404 17 epistrophe elegans hoverfly
200404 18 bee sp

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85/365 A day of firsts

26 Tuesday Mar 2019

Posted by sconzani in 365DaysWildin2019, insects, ladybird, nature, spring

≈ 4 Comments

Tags

#365DaysWild, 7-spot ladybirds, bee-flies, Comma butterfly, Common Green Shieldbug, Dark-edged bee-fly, Peacock butterfly, Penarth Rail Trail, Sawfly, south Wales coastal path, Speckled wood

190326 (1) rail trail

I walked further than I intended today but I just couldn’t resist the sunshine, the calls of the birds, the bees and hoverflies buzzing all around, the white blossom and the vibrant green leaf growth … it was magical! Yesterday, I saw my first Peacock butterflies of the year and today I saw four more, plus my first two Speckled woods and my first Comma, my first Common green shieldbug and my first Dark-edged bee-flies, lots of them, and my first 7-spot ladybirds. It gladdens my heart to see so much new life emerging.

 

190326 (2) speckled wood
190326 (3) bee-fly
190326 (4) 7-spot ladybird
OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA
OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA
190326 (6) bee-fly
190326 (7) peacock
190326 (8) comma
OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA
OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA
OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA
OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA
190326 (11) bee-fly

190326 (12) coastal path

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Mini-beasties at Llandegfedd

24 Monday Sep 2018

Posted by sconzani in insects, ladybird, nature

≈ 4 Comments

Tags

bonking beetles, British insects, Llandegfedd Reservoir, minibeasts, Orange ladybird

While my fellow birders were standing in a particularly windy spot to scope the distant shoreline at Llandegfedd Reservoir last Wednesday, I moved along the trail a little to seek shelter behind some trees. And, as I always do, I had a little look at the leaves to see what small creatures were about.

180924 Llandegfedd minibeasties (1)

180924 Llandegfedd minibeasties (2)
180924 Llandegfedd minibeasties (3)

First up were these two bonking beetles who decided to come over and say hello despite being rather busy at increasing their species. After a couple of photos, I returned them to a new leaf and wished them well.

180924 Llandegfedd minibeasties (6)

Then it was a warm welcome to the world to this newly emerged Orange ladybird – that little pile of dark matter is what remains of its pupa.

180924 Llandegfedd minibeasties (4)
180924 Llandegfedd minibeasties (5)

And I’m not sure what this mini-beastie is but I love its pale green body, the hint of turquoise in its wings and those incredible feathery feelers out front.

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What do ladybirds eat?

10 Friday Aug 2018

Posted by sconzani in flowers, insects, ladybird, nature, plants, wildflowers

≈ 1 Comment

Tags

7-spot ladybirds, aphids, Cosmeston, Cosmeston Lakes Country Park, harlequin ladybird, ladybirds, Wild parsnip

I googled ‘What do ladybirds eat?’ today because I was trying to work out why there are so many ladybirds – about a 50 / 50 split between 7-spots and Harlequins – on the Wild parsnip plants at Cosmeston Lakes Country Park. It turns out ladybirds are particularly keen on aphids and, as you can see in some of my photos, there are rather a lot of aphids on these plants. Good news for the ladybirds!

180810 ladybirds on wild parsnip (1)
180810 ladybirds on wild parsnip (2)
180810 ladybirds on wild parsnip (3)
180810 ladybirds on wild parsnip (4)
180810 ladybirds on wild parsnip (5)
180810 ladybirds on wild parsnip (6)
180810 ladybirds on wild parsnip (7)
180810 ladybirds on wild parsnip (8)
180810 ladybirds on wild parsnip (9)
180810 ladybirds on wild parsnip (10)
180810 ladybirds on wild parsnip (11)
180810 ladybirds on wild parsnip (12)
180810 ladybirds on wild parsnip (13)
180810 ladybirds on wild parsnip (14)

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It’s a miracle!

07 Thursday Sep 2017

Posted by sconzani in insects, ladybird, nature

≈ 4 Comments

Tags

Halyzia 16-punctata, Halyzia secedimguttata, ladybird, ladybird larva, ladybird lifecycle, ladybird pupa, ladybug, Orange ladybird

I believe I may have an addiction to ladybirds! When I decided to write this post, I thought I’d just check that I hadn’t covered this topic already: of course, I knew I had written about ladybirds before but I didn’t realise quite how many times. There’s a post here and here and again here and another one here. Well, in spite of all those, here’s another one because, when I found all the Orange ladybirds pictured here within five minutes of each other yesterday, I was struck yet again by just how incredible is their transformation from egg to larva …

170907 Orange ladybird (1)

to pupa …

170907 Orange ladybird (2)
170907 Orange ladybird (3)
170907 Orange ladybird (4)

to ladybird. It really is quite miraculous!

170907 Orange ladybird (5)

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Bioblitzing again

03 Sunday Sep 2017

Posted by sconzani in fungi, insects, ladybird, nature

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

Amelia Trust Farm, bioblitz, biodiversity, biological diversity, biological recording

Ten days ago I spent the day bioblitzing with my friend Hilary at Amelia Trust Farm (with their permission, of course). Hilary volunteers there so was keen to see what we might discover around the grounds.

170903 Harvestman Dicranopalpus ramosus

The habitats were a mix of woodland, arable fields, and flower and vegetable gardens, though we kept to the various footpaths, only looked at the fields from the fence lines, and didn’t venture far into the vegie patch. As previously, Hilary surveyed the plants and I did everything else. For a late summer’s day, in a site full of noisy families, I thought my total of 59 species was respectable enough. Here are some of the things I spotted …

170903 7-spot ladybird
170903 Common European earwig
170903 Green shieldbug
170903 Honey bees
170903 Hoverfly Eristalis sp
170903 Nettle-tap moth
170903 Pantilius tunicatus
170903 Scorpion fly
170903 Small white

170903 Trametes versicolor Turkeytail

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Bishy-barnabee & Co

02 Tuesday May 2017

Posted by sconzani in insects, ladybird, nature

≈ 3 Comments

Tags

14-spot ladybird, 18-spot ladybird, 22-spot ladybird, 7-spot ladybird, Bishy-barnabee, harlequin ladybird, ladybird, Orange ladybird, Robert Macfarlane, vernacular names for ladybird

If you’re on Twitter and follow one of my favourite authors, Robert Macfarlane, you’ll know that he tweets a ‘word of the day’. Yesterday’s was ‘Bishy-barnabee’, a vernacular name for the ladybird used by folk who live in the English county of Norfolk. I adore these common names – they are often old, come from a time when folk paid more attention to the natural world, observing the habits and customs of the creatures around them, or they named creatures after concepts and ideas that were important to them. Macfarlane listed other ladybird names too: cushcow, goldie-bird, red-sodger, and kingcollawa. In Fauna Britannica, Stefan Buczacki lists even more: as well as bishie barni-bee, he has bishop barnabee, bishop is burning, bishop that burneth (all from Norfolk); clock-o’clay and cow lady (from Yorkshire); God Almighty’s cow, God’s little cow and King Galowa (from Scotland); and ladycow, lady fly, lady lanners, Mary gold and sodger (from Northumberland). I’m sure there are many many more.

Here is a selection of the Bishy-barnabees I have photographed (using the mostly numerical descriptions we more commonly use these days: two 7-spots, a 14-spot, an 18-spot, a 22-spot, 3 Harlequins and an Orange).

170501 ladybird 7-spot (1)
170501 ladybird 7-spot (2)
170501 ladybird 14-spot
170501 ladybird 18-spot
170501 ladybird 22-spot
170501 ladybird Harlequin (1)
170501 ladybird Harlequin (2)
170501 ladybird Harlequin (3)
170501 ladybird Orange

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Signs of Spring, 3

25 Saturday Mar 2017

Posted by sconzani in insects, ladybird, nature, spring, wildflowers

≈ 7 Comments

Tags

bees, butterflies, flies, hoverflies, insects, insects in springtime, ladybird, shieldbugs, Spring has sprung

You know Spring has well and truly arrived when the insects start appearing in reasonable quantities so, judging by the numbers of insects I’ve seen on my walks over the past two days, I would say Spring has most definitely sprung, wouldn’t you?

170325 Spring insects (1)
170325 Spring insects (2)
170325 Spring insects (3)
170325 Spring insects (4)
170325 Spring insects (5)
170325 Spring insects (6)
170325 Spring insects (7)
170325 Spring insects (8)
170325 Spring insects (9)
170325 Spring insects (10)
170325 Spring insects (11)
170325 Spring insects (12)

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There’s a cannibal in my kitchen

12 Saturday Dec 2015

Posted by sconzani in insects, ladybird, nature, nature photography, winter

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

harlequin ladybird, hibernation, insect, invasive species, ladybird, ladybug, winter

For the third time in as many weeks a Harlequin ladybird (Harmonia axyridis) has appeared as if from nowhere in my kitchen. They like to find somewhere cosy to hibernate the winter away so I’m sure a warm spot near my gas boiler would suit them very well and normally I wouldn’t mind but this is the most invasive ladybird on earth.
151212 ladybird harlequin (1)

The voracious little Harlequin originated in Asia but was introduced firstly to North America and later to Europe to control aphids. Though it only arrived in Britain in 2004 – perhaps blown across the Channel, or it may have hitched a ride on a vehicle – it has already spread throughout half these isles. The problem is that the Harlequin doesn’t just eat aphids; not only does it compete with native ladybirds for food but it also devours their eggs and larvae, as well as the eggs and caterpillars of butterflies and moths. It may look cute but it has the devastating potential to wipe out all 26 resident species of ladybird.

This is one time when I really wish this ladybird would fly away home!

151212 ladybird harlequin (2)

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About me

sconzani

sconzani

I'm a writer and photographer; researcher and blogger; birder and nature lover; countryside rambler and city strider; volunteer and biodiversity recorder.

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