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  1. Mis

    The Ladybird thread

    I've been catching up on this thread and the mention of cold resistance in ladybirds has reminded that I'd forgotten to post my first sighting of 2010. Last Saturday, 30 January, a lone pine ladybird was on the smooth bark of an ash tree here. We'd had a sprinkling of snow overnight which had...
  2. Mis

    The Ladybird thread

    I said earlier today that the invasion had started! Here are two pictures taken today of harlequins tucked up in cosy corners. There were large numbers flying around all afternoon.
  3. Mis

    The Ladybird thread

    The invasion of the harlequins began yesterday. I thought I wouldn't have any trouble this year because I'd seen very few all summer but they are beginning to squeeze into gaps round the window frames and in the corners of the windows. I'm having to go round the house gathering them up before...
  4. Mis

    The Ladybird thread

    According to Roger Hawkins in Ladybirds of Surrey there have been sightings of the pine ladybird on broom. I think this is a pine ladybird - the red 'comma' at the front is usually touching the lower edge of the elytra in the melanic 2-spot.
  5. Mis

    The Ladybird thread

    Maybe a recently-emerged melanic 2-spot? I think we'll have to wait for Paul's opinion on this one!
  6. Mis

    The Ladybird thread

    The one with the orange is a 7 spot larva. The other is a 14 spot. It's very similar to the cream spot larva. The 14 spot larva has a white spot towards the rear of the abdomen. The white spots along the side of the abdomen are a bit spikier on the cream spot larvae I've encountered.
  7. Mis

    The Ladybird thread

    It seems a good year on my patch. We had large numbers (250+) of pine ladybirds earlier in the year and I'm seeing more 7-spot ladybirds than last year. 2-spot, 14-spot and cream-spot ladybirds are around in smaller quantities than the 7-spots and I've seen very few orange ladybirds so far. I've...
  8. Mis

    The Ladybird thread

    Here's another larva. I think this one is a cream-spot ladybird larva. It was on a bramble, quite close to an adult.
  9. Mis

    The Ladybird thread

    JC001, I would say that is a harlequin larva. There are some similar larvae such as the cream-spot ladybird but that only has two 'spikes' on the back between the rows of orange spikes. That is a 14-spot ladybird, Ken. It's much more like the ones I see with the bars instead of spots. That one...
  10. Mis

    The Ladybird thread

    I'm finding harlequins (larvae and adults) in more parts of my patch this year. I found a mating pair of pine ladybirds on dock this afternoon. Dock doesn't seem to be a usual host for them. Roger Hawkins mentions in Ladybirds of Surrey that they turn up occasionally on gorse. Perhaps these...
  11. Mis

    The Ladybird thread

    I would say that is the larva of the harlequin ladybird.
  12. Mis

    The Ladybird thread

    I posted a photo of a 7-spot ladybird attached to the cocoon of a parasitic wasp a few days ago. The wasp emerged today and here is a picture of it.
  13. Mis

    The Ladybird thread

    I think No.1 is a cream streaked ladybird, Harmonia quadripunctata. It's the form with just the four outer spots being black. No.2 is an eyed ladybird, Anatis ocellata. No.3 looks like the chequered form of the 10 spot ladybird, Adalia decempunctata, with a soldier beetle (possibly Cantharis...
  14. Mis

    The Ladybird thread

    I saw a 7-spot ladybird on a foxglove leaf this morning which appeared to be attached to a greyish pad. I've been looking at a number of sites and think it has been parasitised by Dinocampus coccinellae, and the object beneath the ladybird is a pupa. Is it possible to keep the leaf in a jar of...
  15. Mis

    The Ladybird thread

    I found this harlequin this morning. It has a damaged left elytron and wing and was unable to fly. It may have overwintered in this condition and was within 50cm of an air brick where it may have sheltered. The damage could have occurred when the ladybird emerged from the pupa or may have...
  16. Mis

    The Ladybird thread

    It's the chequered form of the 10-spot ladybird.
  17. Mis

    The Ladybird thread

    I was beating a few branches of some yew trees this afternoon (just to see what fell out really) and was surprised to find nearly 40 pine ladybirds and several orange ladybirds. I haven't seen yew mentioned as a likely place to find them. Is this normal or are they moving to additional 'hosts'?
  18. Mis

    The Ladybird thread

    I had a look for ladybirds today. The first orange ladybirds are appearing here now as the sycamore leaves develop. I saw a single cream-spot on sycamore as well. There are plenty of pine ladybirds on ash trunks, many mating. I also found a few kidney-spot ladybirds on ash and alder, and what I...
  19. Mis

    The Ladybird thread

    I recorded large numbers of harlequins (in the hundreds) heading for my house looking for overwintering sites late last year. I've been seeing the odd one around the house throughout the winter. During the last two weeks the harlequins have been reappearing in increasing numbers and are probably...
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