The Ladybird thread (2 Viewers)

[Larry Sweetland]

3 Dot Ladybirds found in a Bristol garden today (species 24 for me 😁). Another sp that's out of range according to the field guide.

 

[Surreybirder]

3 Dot Ladybirds found in a Bristol garden today (species 24 for me 😁). Another sp that's out of range according to the field guide.

I think I had a dot ladybird today, although the yellow legs weren't as obvious as in my previous one.

 

[Larry Sweetland]

I think I had a dot ladybird today, although the yellow legs weren't as obvious as in my previous one.

Looks good. Did it have tiny silvery hairs on the elytra? I've put a pic of one of the ones found (with a 24-spot in same pic) on the Facebook group (I find trying to upload pics onto BF too fiddly)

 

[Surreybirder]

Looks good. Did it have tiny silvery hairs on the elytra? I've put a pic of one of the ones found (with a 24-spot in same pic) on the Facebook group (I find trying to upload pics onto BF too fiddly)

Not entirely sure - as I say, hard to photograph.

 

[Surreybirder]

You can see the records of dot moth on the national database here: https://irecord.org.uk/species-details?taxon_meaning_id=41335

 

[Larry Sweetland]

You can see the records of dot moth on the national database here: https://irecord.org.uk/species-details?taxon_meaning_id=41335

Dot moth or Dot Ladybird? 😉

 

[Surreybirder]

Dot moth or Dot Ladybird? 😉

Sorry, wrong dot!

 

[Owene]

Are these all different forms of harlequin. There were dozens of the yellow ones present but only the two black.

 

[Larry Sweetland]

Are these all different forms of harlequin. There were dozens of the yellow ones present but only the two black.

Yes, Harlequin 👍

 

[Surreybirder]

Still a few other species out and about - I was in Ashdown Forest this morning (E. Sussex).

 

[Owene]

Yes, Harlequin 👍

Thanks

 

[Larry Sweetland]

Just found 2 Adonis Ladybirds on patch in Bristol. Swept from a slope grassy slope by M32 dominated by wild carrot. Another lifer 🙂

 

[Surreybirder]

Just found 2 Adonis Ladybirds on patch in Bristol. Swept from a slope grassy slope by M32 dominated by wild carrot. Another lifer 🙂

Well done! You have clearly got your eye in!

 

[Larry Sweetland]

Well done! You have clearly got your eye in!

Thanks Ken, I do seem to be on a roll 🙂

 

[Surreybirder]

Thanks Ken, I do seem to be on a roll 🙂

What camera/phone do you use to photograph the inconspicuous ladybirds? I have had some success with a cheap microscope but it's impossible when they are mobile - and a lot of them are. I had one today where I managed to get the underside but I just couldn't get a dorsal shot. It was probably an ivy ladybird but I'm not sure. (I called it 'larger' because it was too big to be a dot ladybird.) I also had a harlequin today which my wife spotted climbing up the outside of our bedroom window!

 

[Larry Sweetland]

What camera/phone do you use to photograph the inconspicuous ladybirds? I have had some success with a cheap microscope but it's impossible when they are mobile - and a lot of them are. I had one today where I managed to get the underside but I just couldn't get a dorsal shot. It was probably an ivy ladybird but I'm not sure. (I called it 'larger' because it was too big to be a dot ladybird.) I also had a harlequin today which my wife spotted climbing up the outside of our bedroom window!

I've only use my rubbish phone camera for "record shots" which aren't even good enough for that, when it comes to the smaller species. For the recent ones I've been catching them and getting my mate to come over with his serious macro lens to get proper pics of them, before I let them go.

I haven't been using irecord, but I've been sending the notable records in via email to the county recorder (BRERC in my case), with accompanying pics when/if I can get them. Hopefully they'll end up on some map somewhere at some point🤷. It's all a bit different to the world of field descriptions of birds it seems.

 

[Surreybirder]

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It's all a bit different to the world of field descriptions of birds it seems

Very true! I suspect that it varies from one vice-county to another. I'm in VC17 (historic Surrey). We have a very active moth recorder who will accept records of other insects, too. But he won't touch iRecord. On the other hand, the butterfly recorder seems to accept records from iRecord even without a photograph. Ladybird records on iRecord need to be verified by a national authority. Some orders (plants, trees, spiders, fungi, lichens for example) never seem to get reviewed on iRecord and I cannot be bothered to chase up all the relevant county recorders. But you do get surprises, such as some very keen recorders of slugs and snails, woodlice, molluscs, barklice, millipedes etc.
But clearly need to find some way of getting better photos of the smaller ladybirds.....

 

[Larry Sweetland]

Heather Ladybird (ladybird #26 for me) found today at Upton Heath in Dorset. Shaken from a pine sapling with heather and gorse at base.

 

[Larry Sweetland]

Just found my first Forestier's Rhyzobius (ladybird #27 for me) by shaking a young larch in Bristol... Unaware of any other records in this part of the UK, but that means nothing!

 

[Larry Sweetland]

My first new ladybird of the year today, a Red Marsh Ladybird on patch in Bristol 🙂