I admit to feeling a few pangs of envy when, a couple of days ago, one of the entomologists I follow on social media posted photos of the eleventh species of ladybird they’d sighted this year. I’ve never seen 11 ladybird species in my entire life (my total is 8), let alone in the middle of winter. [Note to self: must try harder!]

Meanwhile, in the local park (and, yes, many are on the railings), apart from a single 7-spot ladybird, the population seems overwhelmingly to be comprised of Harlequin ladybirds, those invasive interlopers that originally lived in Asia but have become one of the most invasive insect species in the world, according to the Buglife website.