The Ladybird thread (4 Viewers)

[paul mabbott]

They're quite common nowadays: especially at light traps. they are one of the few ladybirds regularly flying at night.

This is the first time I've looked in this thread, I'll need to have a good troll through it!

Anyway, the other morning while checking my moth trap I noticed a tiny Ladybird, did some research and Id'd it as an Orange Ladybird - a first for me...:t:

 

[paul mabbott]

Can anyone help ID this unusual ladybird?
At first glance I thought it was either an Eyed or cream spotted ladybird but the black rings around cream spots tend to lead away from both species.
Any help greatly appreciated.

I must have missed this one when it first appeared. Yes, looks to be Calvia quattuordecimguttata, creram-spotted ladybird but very unusual to see with those rings around it. Perhaps not coincidentally, last year there were two or three reports of very darkly pigmented individuals - i.e. the brown patches were very dark, virtually black. This is a common form in North America but i'd never seen it before in UK.
Perhaps this specimen had a lower dose of the same gene?

 

[paul mabbott]

UK ladybird distribution

Someone was asking about distribution of ladybirds in UK.
A distributional atlas of the British Coccinellidae should be published this year (if we're luck) - watch this space!

 

[Odonate]

You can download an identification sheet from UK Ladybird Survey and also report your sightings.

There is also the FSC Ladybird ID sheet on the web at the moment http://downloads.bbc.co.uk/breathingplaces/images/guide-ladybird.pdf

O

 

[Odonate]

Hi Everyone

Is the attached a Halyzia 16-guttata or a Calvia 14-guttata or something else? Photo taken in March, Northern Italian Alps under Sweet Chestnut.

O

 

[aeshna5]

Hi Everyone

Is the attached a Halyzia 16-guttata or a Calvia 14-guttata or something else? Photo taken in March, Northern Italian Alps under Sweet Chestnut.

O

It's Calvia 14-guttata, the Cream-spot Ladybird.

 

[busyb]

Odonate.

It looks Ok for Cream-spot Calvia 14-guttata to me, but I have no experience of / or ID guides for,the rest of Europe, so as I know that there are more species on the continent than we get in the UK, I can`t be certain. It`s not an Orange Halyzia 16-guttata though.

Keith

 

[Odonate]

Thanks for that

Not really up on Ladybirds I'm afraid

O

 

[paul mabbott]

Agreed.
There is Calvia decemguttata elsewhere in Europe, which, as its name suggests, has ten pale patches. However, it's quite rare.

Odonate.

It looks Ok for Cream-spot Calvia 14-guttata to me, but I have no experience of / or ID guides for,the rest of Europe, so as I know that there are more species on the continent than we get in the UK, I can`t be certain. It`s not an Orange Halyzia 16-guttata though.

Keith

 

[balkantrek]

Can someone please confirm if this is Adalia 10-punctata f. decempustulatus?

It was photographed in a stream valley in Bulgaria's Rodopi Mountains at 1200m.

 

[Tiraya]

How about a melanistic (?) 14-spotted Ladybird? Found this one at Keyhaven a few years back. I think its pretty unique.

Plus a couple of unusual Harlequins I found just before I moved to Canada.

 

[firstreesjohn]

7-spot today in Norfolk, UK

Coccinella 7-punctata in Wells Woods, north Norfolk, this afternoon. Sunny and warm, out of the wind.

Surely this isn't the first of the year for the UK ?

 

[Pam_m]

Coccinella 7-punctata in Wells Woods, north Norfolk, this afternoon. Sunny and warm, out of the wind.

Surely this isn't the first of the year for the UK ?

Snap!! Found on Saturday (12th) in the West Midlands. Sunbathing in the warm sunshine.

 

[pstraughan]

New to this thread but not the Forums.

Two black ladybirds, each with 4 large red spots, 1 orange ladybird with 5-6 small black spots, 1 red ladybird with about a dozen medium sized black spots. All in my Kent conservatory. IDs please? Is thee a beginner's guide to ladybirds?

Thanks

Pat

 

[aeshna5]

New to this thread but not the Forums.

Two black ladybirds, each with 4 large red spots, 1 orange ladybird with 5-6 small black spots, 1 red ladybird with about a dozen medium sized black spots. All in my Kent conservatory. IDs please? Is thee a beginner's guide to ladybirds?

Thanks

Pat

It's possible all your ladybirds could be the same species- they may all be Harlequins. If you can post any photos we can confirm or otherwise the IDs.

The Field Studies Council does a good laminated sheet showing most of the UK ladybirds, just not covering some of the tiniest species.

Though not an ID guide Roger Hawkins " The Ladybirds of Surrey" is an excellent book that covers most species with some good photos. Ironically doesn't include the Harlequin because it wasn't established when the book was published, but is now an abundant insect in the county!

 

[pdwinter]

Hi Pat

There's a good page on Harlequins at http://www.harlequin-survey.org/recognition_and_distinction.htm and there's a link to a pdf for other British ladybirds at http://www.ladybird-survey.org/species_list.aspx

 

[MarkHows]

Someone was asking about distribution of ladybirds in UK.
A distributional atlas of the British Coccinellidae should be published this year (if we're luck) - watch this space!

Did this get published?

Thanks

Mark

 

[aeshna5]

Did this get published?

Thanks

Mark

I think it's due fairly soon.

 

[Euan Buchan]

I saw my first ladybird of the year this week. I can't tell you how many spots it had I saw it on a blind but decided to leave it alone on Monday saw it on the floor so got it on my finger and opened the door but it flew off so no idea if it's still in the house or flew out.

 

[Angus T]

My brother found a 2-Spot Ladybird in his house. may well be first reported from Co. Wicklow. The same house that the Republic of Ireland's first Harlequin ladybird was found last November.