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Tag Archives: ladybird

Counting spots

18 Saturday Jun 2022

Posted by sconzani in insects

≈ 4 Comments

Tags

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

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286/365 Bright spots

13 Sunday Oct 2019

Posted by sconzani in insects, nature

≈ 6 Comments

Tags

British ladybirds, ladybird, ladybirds

191013 ladybirds (1)

It was such a pleasure to see these ladybirds, bright spots of vibrant colour on a particularly dull wet day.

191013 ladybirds (2)
191013 ladybirds (3)

 

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95/365 Braving the weather

05 Friday Apr 2019

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

≈ 4 Comments

Tags

#365DaysWild, British insects, bumblebee, flies, hoverfly, insects, ladybird

I only managed to grab an hour’s walk today, once again dodging the rain showers that have been rolling in throughout the day. I thought I might blog about the wild garlic that’s covering every inch of the wilder areas in Penarth’s Alexandra Park but decided it would be better to wait until the flowers are at their peak as that would make for better photos. Then, as I was checking out the garlic and taking a few shots, my eye was caught by the number of insects sitting on their leaves, basking in the fleeting patches of sunshine, braving the weather on this mostly grey wet day. So here they are …

190405 braving the weather (3)
190405 braving the weather (1)
190405 braving the weather (5)
190405 braving the weather (4)
190405 braving the weather (6)
190405 braving the weather (2)

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Signs of spring: minibeasts

03 Tuesday Apr 2018

Posted by sconzani in insects, nature

≈ 6 Comments

Tags

bees, bumblebee, flies, hoverflies, ladybird, minibeasts, signs of spring

‘If all mankind were to disappear, the world would regenerate back to the rich state of equilibrium that existed ten thousand years ago. If insects were to vanish, the environment would collapse into chaos.’
~ E. O. Wilson (1929 – ), American biologist, environmentalist, author

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180401 minibeast (4) Honey bee
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180401 minibeast (6) fly
180401 minibeast (7) fly
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180401 minibeast (9) Eristalis tenax
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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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Wildflowers that aren’t

25 Friday Aug 2017

Posted by sconzani in flowers, insects, nature, parks, wildflowers

≈ 8 Comments

Tags

bumblebee, Floral Friday, insects on flowers, ladybird, wildflowers, wildflowers in city parks

170825 flowers & insects (1)

I’m in two minds about the current trend amongst city councils to plant beds of wildflowers in local parks. I’m told that the seed mixes are often imported from Europe because they’re cheaper, so they’re not necessarily flower species that would grow naturally in the local area. It seems a token gesture on the part of councils rather than any kind of commitment to the environment. On the other hand, I can’t help but enjoy the colourful flowers, and the insects also seem to benefit from them. What do you think?

170825 flowers & insects (2)
170825 flowers & insects (3)
170825 flowers & insects (4)
170825 flowers & insects (5)
170825 flowers & insects (6)
170825 flowers & insects (7)

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A blast of orange

11 Tuesday Jul 2017

Posted by sconzani in insects, nature

≈ 4 Comments

Tags

British ladybirds, Halyzia 16-guttata, Halyzia secedimguttata, ladybird, ladybird larva, ladybug, Orange ladybird

170711 Orange Ladybird (1)

When I’m out and about on my wanders, it’s usually a preponderance of Harlequin ladybirds that I see but this day was different. Instead of Harlequins, there seemed to be beautiful little Orange ladybirds (Halyzia 16-guttata) wherever I looked. And there weren’t just adult ladybirds – almost every leaf I turned over had their larvae as well. And this was across two different parks, not just in one location.

170711 Orange ladybird nymph (1)
170711 Orange ladybird nymph (2)

We are constantly warned that the invasive Harlequins, first recorded in Britain in October 2004, are a serious threat to Britain’s native ladybirds, and surveys have shown that most native ladybirds are in serious decline, partly due to the Harlequin but also due to habitat loss. Perhaps the Orange ladybird is fighting back. It has apparently adapted to living on different tree species, first the sycamore and more recently the ash, so this may be aiding its apparent increase in abundance. I certainly hope so!

170711 Orange Ladybird (2)
170711 Orange Ladybird (3)
170711 Orange Ladybird (4)
170711 Orange Ladybird (5)

Don’t forget that we can’t know what’s happening with British ladybirds (or, indeed, any other living species) unless sightings are recorded. You can record yours through your local biodiversity records centre or directly with the UK Ladybird Survey website here.

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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)
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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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Feasting on ivy flowers

30 Friday Sep 2016

Posted by sconzani in autumn, flowers, insects, nature

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

harlequin ladybird, ivy, ivy flowers, ladybird

160930-ladybird-on-ivy

This little Harlequin ladybird was just one of the many insects – flies and hoverflies, honey bees, bumblebees and wasps, and a Red Admiral butterfly – that were enjoying the nectar and pollen to be found on these ivy flowers, an important source of food for so many insects in the autumn months.

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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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