A fungus-infected ladybird

12 Tuesday May 2026

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fungus infecting Harlequin ladybird, Harlequin, harlequin ladybird, Harlequin with fungal infection, Hesperomyces harmoniae, ladybird

This Harlequin ladybird (Harmonia axyridis) has been infected with the fungus previously known as Hesperomyces virescens, that is now known to be specific to the Harlequin so has been renamed Hesperomyces harmoniae. Hopefully, you should be able to make out the short pale-coloured stalk-like growths emerging from between the ladybird’s eyes and along its front left leg. According to the Beetlehangers website, the fungus is being investigated as a means of controlling the Harlequin ladybird, as it is an invasive, non-native species that is threatening the populations of native British species. The fungus is believed to decrease the Harlequin’s ‘mating frequency, winter survival rate, and mobility’ – not very pleasant if you’re a Harlequin but good news for our other ladybird species.

A loveliness of ladybirds

14 Tuesday Apr 2026

Posted by sconzani in insects, ladybird

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10-spot ladybird, 14-spot ladybird, Adalia decempunctata, British ladybirds, Chilocorus renipustulatus, Kidney-spot ladybird, ladybird, Propylea quattuordecimpunctata

I googled to find out what the collective noun is for ladybirds and read that it’s ‘loveliness’, which seems perfectly appropriate. On Easter Saturday, I went for a short mooch around a local park, hoping that the occasional sunny spells might produce butterflies. Unfortunately, the sun was far too occasional and a cool wind blew, but I did find a loveliness of little ladybirds: two 10-spots (Adalia decempunctata)

a 14-spot (Propylea quattuordecimpunctata)

and a Kidney-spot (Chilocorus renipustulatus).

First beetles

13 Tuesday Jan 2026

Posted by sconzani in insects, winter

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beetle, British beetles, British ladybirds, Harlequin, harlequin ladybird, Harmonia axyridis, ladybird, ladybirds overwintering indoors

Though I’ve mostly been focusing on finding new bird species during this first couple of weeks of 2026, I have also, when the sun has been shining, been keeping an eye out for any bugs or beetles that might have emerged briefly to bask in its relative warmth. So far, that has proved fruitless, and my first beetle sightings of the new year have actually been here at home, in my flat – in fact, as I type this I can see one of them walking along one of the living room blinds. They are ladybirds – all have been Harlequin ladybirds (Harmonia axyridis) – that came flooding in through my open windows just as the winter days began to get colder.

This is quite normal – ladybirds look for places to sleep away the wintery weather. I don’t mind them doing this in my flat apart from one issue; during those blue-sky days when the sun is out all day, my south-facing flat gets quite warm and the ladybirds wake up and start wandering about, looking for a way to get outside again. I have ejected five that seemed particularly agitated, flying in to the glass again and again, but there are at least two still lurking on the blinds or amongst my house plants.

Kidney-spot ladybird

02 Friday Jan 2026

Posted by sconzani in insects, ladybird

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Chilocorus renipustulatus, Kidney-spot ladybird, ladybird

Who knew I would finish off 2025, an already great year for new bugs, with even more new finds, especially in December? Yesterday I brought you my first sighting of an Arboreal ladybird and, today, here’s my first sighting of a Kidney-spot ladybird (Chilocorus renipustulatus), once again the result of checking the local park railings as I walked past.

I first saw this lovely little ladybird on 14 December, then had a second sighting, remarkably of the same ladybird (I can tell from the shape of its spots) in approximately the same location two days later. At just 5mm in length, the Kidney-spot is one of the smaller ladybirds, and has a black face and body, with a vivid red spot on each of its wing cases. It is usually associated with well-wooded locations, as it feeds on the scale insects that live on the bark of trees.

Arboreal ladybird

01 Thursday Jan 2026

Posted by sconzani in insects, ladybird

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Arboreal ladybird, British ladybirds, ladybird, Rhyzobius chrysomeloides

Happy New Year, everyone!

Since I bought the book Micro ladybirds of Britain and Ireland: A guide to the smaller species of Coccinellidae (Maria Justamond and David W. Williams, Field Studies Council, 2025) earlier this year, I’ve been hoping to find one of the species listed within its enticing pages. And, on 7 December, I finally did.

I can’t take any credit for actively searching for and finding this little ladybird; my only credit is for realising how great a location my local park railings are after wet and windy weather, which is when I find a diverse range of tiny insects sitting on and tootling along on top of them.

This adorable little creature is my first Arboreal ladybird (Rhyzobius chrysomeloides), a tiny insect between 2.5mm and 3.5mm long, reddish brown in colour with distinctive brown markings on the elytra (wing cases), and usually found on a variety of trees (pines, cypresses), shrubs (Pyracantha, Viburnum, Euonymus) and ivy. It can be confused with another Rhyzobius species, the Meadow ladybird, but I am fortunate to follow and be followed by both the authors of the Micro ladybirds book, so was able to get almost immediate confirmation of my find.

My first Eyed ladybird

22 Tuesday Apr 2025

Posted by sconzani in insects, ladybird

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Anatis ocellata, Britain's ladybirds, Eyed ladybird, ladybird, ladybird on Pine

This lovely little creature was a bit lost. I found it sitting on some nettles beside a busy road. Admittedly, the bank above was covered in tall broadleaf trees and scrub but with none of the Pine trees the Eyed ladybird (Anatis ocellata) is meant to associate with. And the reason for that association is the fact that it eats Pine aphids.

This was my first ever sighting of an Eyed ladybird, Britain’s largest at 8-9 mm. I’ve been looking more closely at Pine trees lately but I’ve not seen one there … yet. The adults are out and about from Spring through to Autumn, so I’ll keep looking.

I wish I’d been able to get better photos but, you know, nettles!

My first Pine ladybird

10 Monday Mar 2025

Posted by sconzani in insects, ladybird

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British beetles, British ladybirds, Exochomus quadripustulatus, ladybird, Pine ladybird

I don’t know why this has taken me so long but yesterday, by sheer chance, I finally found my first Pine ladybird (Exochomus quadripustulatus), which also happened to be the 1600th species I’ve recorded with my local biodiversity records centre since I first started recording back in February 2016.

At first, I wasn’t entirely sure it was a Pine ladybird but a ladybird sitting on a Pine tree had to be a strong contender so I took some photos and, when I checked later at home, I was able to confirm that the red splodges that look a bit like commas on the front of its black wing-casings (elytra) are diagnostic.

The Pine ladybird is listed as common throughout much of England and Wales, though, in fact, there are only nine records of this little ladybird, dating from 2007-2022, in my local 10km grid square, and that is my excuse for not having found it before now! You can see a map of its distribution on the UK Beetle Recording website here.

Lucky, unlucky

16 Wednesday Oct 2024

Posted by sconzani in insects

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aphid, British hoverflies, hoverfly larva, ladybird, ladybird eating aphid, Syrphus sp larvae

The aphid-eating hoverfly larva (likely one of the Syrphus species) missed its chance here. As you’ll see, though, the ladybird was more on the ball and the aphid lost its second chance.

(I’ve set the video to mute as this park railing is next to a very busy road but I’m not sure that setting has worked, so best to mute your sound before viewing the video.)

Hiding in plain sight

17 Wednesday Jan 2024

Posted by sconzani in insects, ladybird, winter

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7-spot ladybird, British ladybirds, ladybird, ladybirds in winter

Have you ever wondered where ladybirds go in winter? Some of them hide away in crevices in tree bark, or under unused flower pots in garden sheds; some even invade our houses, where they can often be found huddled together along the edges of windows.

240117 ladybird (1)

Others can be spotted outside, hiding in plain sight, as you see here, tucked in holes in fences or clinging on beneath seed heads. They’re such wonderful, though tiny pops of colour in an otherwise fairly drab landscape.

240117 ladybird (2)

Counting spots

18 Saturday Jun 2022

Posted by sconzani in insects

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14-spot ladybird, 22-spot ladybird, 24-spot ladybird, British ladybirds, Cream-spot ladybird, ladybird, ladybug, Orange ladybird

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).

220618 ladybirds