Tag Archives: British ladybirds

Twenty two

09 Wednesday Nov 2022

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I know the weather’s been mild – we haven’t even had a frost here yet – but I still didn’t expect to see a bunch of ladybirds on nettles as I walked through a local park on Monday afternoon. Initially I thought there were just one or two but the little red dots just kept on appearing so I retraced my steps to where I’d seen the first one and counted. Twenty two! Sadly, they were all the invasive Harlequins but hopefully that means the native breeds are all tucked up somewhere safe for the winter.

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Counting spots

18 Saturday Jun 2022

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I love the bright pops of colour ladybirds (or ladybugs, as they’re known in some countries) provide on the leaves of trees, shrubs and grasses as I’m meandering through the landscape. And they’re usually easy to identify, simply by counting their spots, which is always a bonus with insects. These are a few I’ve recently encountered: 14-spot (Propylea quattuordecimpunctata) and 22-spot (Psyllobora vigintiduopunctata); a new species for me, the 24-spot ladybird (Subcoccinella vigintiquattuorpunctata) (recognisable by its red head, even if you can’t count the spots); and two that are named for their colours so no spot counting required, the Cream-spot (Calvia quattuordecimguttata) (okay, this could be confusing as it has 14 spots and isn’t really cream, more of a red-brown) and the Orange ladybird (Halyzia sedecimguttata).

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Ladybirds galore

11 Thursday Nov 2021

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I was really surprised during Tuesday’s walk to see so many ladybirds still about – not only adults but also a lot of larvae, and this one pair of adults that obviously thought it was springtime not late autumn.

On one small section of nettles growing along the road verge there were over 20 ladybirds.

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Unfortunately, every single one was a Harlequin ladybird – not a 7-spot or other species to be seen.

22-spots

05 Thursday Aug 2021

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Yesterday was the first time I’ve seen the larvae of the 22-spot ladybird (Psyllobora vigintiduopunctata).

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I was checking Lesser burdock plants for their special fly Terellia tussilaginis when I noticed first the distinctive yellow-and-black markings of the adult 22-spot and then, lower down on the big floppy burdock leaves at ground level, several of the also distinctive larvae. I do like it when insects are easy to identify!

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Hannibal Harlequin

15 Thursday Jul 2021

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In the Silence of the Lambs, it was Hannibal Lecter; in the world of ladybirds, it’s Hannibal Harlequin. Yes, folks, though I’m sure you all thought ladybirds were cute, it’s actually a ladybird eats ladybird world out there! In this case, a Harlequin ladybird larva is eating the pupa of a 7-spot ladybird.

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The 7-spot cycle

05 Monday Jul 2021

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A few weeks ago I wrote about going insecting and showed a few of my recent finds, including what I suspected was a photo of ladybird eggs. Sure enough, when I revisited that particular spot last week, I found ladybirds in various stages of development. When I add in a photo, taken in a previous year, of ladybirds about to mate on a gorse bush, we have the full lifecycle: mating, eggs, larva, larva beginning to pupate, pupa and recently emerged adult (they often emerge quite pale), all of the 7-spot ladybird (Coccinella septempunctata).

Red spots

18 Thursday Mar 2021

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A tiny spot of red caught my eye, and then, close by, another – my first ladybirds of the year, both Seven-spot ladybirds (Coccinella septempunctata).

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If you’re lucky, you may have had these little beauties hibernating in your garden shed but, in this case, these two are countryside dwellers so have probably spent the winter inside a plant stem, or perhaps tucked securely within the dense branches of ivy, or maybe in a deep crack in tree bark. A few sunny days and warmer overnight temperatures will have triggered their emergence from hibernation, and produced another spring treat for me to enjoy!

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185/366 Grounded

03 Friday Jul 2020

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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.

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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.

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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.

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