• Welcome to BirdForum, the internet's largest birding community with thousands of members from all over the world. The forums are dedicated to wild birds, birding, binoculars and equipment and all that goes with it.

    Please register for an account to take part in the discussions in the forum, post your pictures in the gallery and more.
ZEISS DTI thermal imaging cameras. For more discoveries at night, and during the day.

The Ladybird thread (1 Viewer)

willowa said:
IF this has been aired before please let me know the tread.

Has anyone got any information on the ladybirds none native to the UK. That are putting our native ladytbirds in danger (If there is not enough food to go round). Have you got any photos of these to compare with our own species.
And what do we do( if anything) about them.
Hi,
One of the problems is that they vary qute a lot, there are three variants here:
http://www.eimagesite.net/s1/gst/run.cgi?action=search3n&orid=21794

I was told that, provided you are certain of the identification, you should kill them. ( www.eimagesite.net has a UK Ladybird image gallery, I believe that all the images currently in it have had their identification verified )

Hugh
 
Last edited:
138mph said:
Hi,
One of the problems is that they vary qute a lot, there are three variants here:
http://www.eimagesite.net/s1/gst/run.cgi?action=thumbs&rids=2008,2003,2000,1577

I was told that, provided you are certain of the identification, you should kill them. ( www.eimagesite.net has a UK Ladybird image gallery, I believe that all the images currently in it have had their identification verified )

Hugh

Thank you..
This it is very useful. I think many of the natives are from forests, prob will not venture into gardens. But if they do I can check with this site first. I don't like killing things for the sake of it.
 
There is quite a lot about this in the earlier thread 'Numbers of ladybirds - UK' but just to put my bit in ...
This is an Asian species so is not native to either Europe or North America (see http://www.ladybird-survey.pwp.blueyonder.co.uk/H_axyridis.htm ) it was deliberately imported to both USA & France from whence they have spread all over the continents.
The important thing is not to mistake one of our 40+ natives for them - see
http://www.ladybird-survey.pwp.blueyonder.co.uk/londonla.htm
When they first appeared in UK, it was hoped that collecting them would stop colonisation - which didn't work! There are now hundreds of thousands so killing one or two won't make any difference. If in doubt - leave them alone. Or load a picture here or send specimens/pictures to the numerous ladybird surveys going on t present.
Cheers, Paul
willowa said:
Thank you..
This it is very useful. I think many of the natives are from forests, prob will not venture into gardens. But if they do I can check with this site first. I don't like killing things for the sake of it.
 
Ladybirds already

Seen several ladybirds in porched area of garden in past few days - its still cold in Sussex and thought they were quite early - plenty of greenfly already on shrubs though so there's certainly food around.
 
It was quite warm here in suffolk yesterday and I saw lots of ladybirds, I haven't looked for aphids and greenfly yet but there were flies about, what a change in the weather compared to last weekend.
 
Gotta be a bit smug, and say we saw ladybirds (7-spots) in January.

We had a mild sunny period for a few days and (although I'll have to check) on the 28th me an my good 'un were out walking, and came across a gorse bush with dozens of them.

I guess they know what they're doing and have been tucked up during the cold snaps since, but now that Spring seems to be here...
 
Over the country there have been 7-spot records over the winter for several years - not as many this year as in the past. I'm beginning to wonder if they do actually hibernate! I think you're right - they come out on bright,relatively warm days. Paul M
PS: is your 'good un' a lass or a dog? Just wonder!
birdman said:
Gotta be a bit smug, and say we saw ladybirds (7-spots) in January.
We had a mild sunny period for a few days and (although I'll have to check) on the 28th me an my good 'un were out walking, and came across a gorse bush with dozens of them.
I guess they know what they're doing and have been tucked up during the cold snaps since, but now that Spring seems to be here...
 
What happened?

I'd be interested to know what happened - did any survive? Were they evicted? Did they come back?

roosmum said:
I have some friends with a Guest House, it's a Victorian building with central heating. Every Winter they have ladybirds sneaking in to sleep in the ceiling corners ................ should they evict the ones in the rooms or leave them to overwinter where they are? I'm dubious about the heating situation as they close for a couple of weeks over Christmas and New Year and I think the ladybirds might think it's Spring when the heating in the rooms comes back on in January.
 
paul mabbott said:
I'd be interested to know what happened - did any survive? Were they evicted? Did they come back?

Hi Paul, it was not straightforward....
An elderly couple stayed for several days in the room where the ladybirds were collected in the corner of the ceiling. While they were there the ladybirds disappeared and we assumed they had thought it the best thing to evict them.
A couple of weeks later I was dusting the centre light shade (a glass globe type) and a great number of desiccated ladybirds fell out. I can only assume that they had become cold and moved to the light for warmth... but stayed too long.
A managerial decision has now been made that in future any ladybirds be evicted immediately.
Having said that, we are now finding a few on the insides of the windows that have survived the Winter tucked away and these are also being helped on their way!
The ones that spent the Winter in the brickwork and around the patio doors are fine!
 
An up-date. Ladybirds have become active somewhat later than in recent years - not a bad thing because they'll have plenty to eat. There have been large numbers (thousands) around the Essex coast which is unusual for thi stime of year. Pine ladybirds are now out and about on tree trunks where they'll mate before going up into the canopy. Plenty of other species to be seen including the dreaded Harmonia axyridis! The only species that has not been seen in expected numbers is the 2-spot - are they already suffering from the effect of the 'harlequin'?
I hope everyone will be collecting records and submitting them to one of the many surveys now active. It's important to get good data on our native species so that we can see what effect, if any, they're having on native species.
 
Several 7 spot ladybirds in the garden and in the local park this weekend, and saw the first Harlequin ladybird of the year in the park on Friday.

Gi
 
Had my first 7-spot Ladybird in my front garden on Friday....along with my first Honey bee, two species of Bumble Bee and a Hover Fly for the new year. :t:

Always gives me such a buzz to see the first insects emerging....a sure sign that summer WILL arrive at some point! :'D
 
Certainly is good to see insects becoming active again.
I hope that you and Gill, and everyone else are sending your records to one of the many ladybird surveys. This will be very helpful, not only in tracking the invading 'harlequin'.
You can log records at http://www.ladybird-survey.org/
or send them to me - I'd especially welcome detailed records from London/Essex or the UK north of Birmingham!

gi2012 said:
Several 7 spot ladybirds in the garden and in the local park this weekend, and saw the first Harlequin ladybird of the year in the park on Friday.

Gi
 
Interested in that (I have colleagues in Ohio!). Do you know which species is infesting you? From what I gather, you had large numbers of Harmonia axyridis - the multivariate Asian, halloween or harlequin ladybird. Is this still a problem. You might gather from our threads that this beast has now invaded UK and threatens our native species ....
medinabrit said:
I Live in north Ohio & have been infested with ladybirds [ladybugs here] for 2 or 3 weeks now.
Brian.
 
First Ladybird of the year

Have you seen your first Ladybird for 2006? I saw my first one on Friday on my window on the landing upstairs I let him on my hand & let him outside. Ladybirds have always been my fav insect
 
Yes, they're just starting to be active. Hope the wether stays warm!
Have you recorded your sighting on one of the surveys? What sort was it - 7-spot?
Cheers, Paul
Euan Buchan said:
Have you seen your first Ladybird for 2006? I saw my first one on Friday on my window on the landing upstairs I let him on my hand & let him outside. Ladybirds have always been my fav insect
 
A few species already on my local patch including Kidney-spot Ladybirds on Sallow trunks at my local wetland plus Pine & Larch Ladybirds beaten from some Pine Trees on the local amenity area, plus of course plenty of 7-spots & a few 2-spots locally. Pine & Larch Ladybird pictures attached.
The Larch Ladybird was actually a new one for my loacal patch.

Stuart.
 

Attachments

  • copy of pine ladybird4.jpg
    copy of pine ladybird4.jpg
    147 KB · Views: 245
  • copy of larch ladybird.jpg
    copy of larch ladybird.jpg
    153 KB · Views: 266
Last edited:
Here is a shot of one of the Kidney-spot Ladybirds mentioned in my previous post,

Stuart.
 

Attachments

  • copy of kidney-spot ladybird1.jpg
    copy of kidney-spot ladybird1.jpg
    266.5 KB · Views: 267

Users who are viewing this thread

Back
Top