[Suzanne B]

I have just spotted these and wondered what they are.
I am absolutely overrun with aphids on all my container plants this year and am really hoping they are ladybird larvae!!





They look approx 2mm and the leaf is just over 2cm long.

Thanks

[ericrovve]

They look about the right shape but in silhouette difficult to tell. Are they a sort bluey colour?

[Pudding4brains]

Originally Posted by Suzanne B

really hoping they are ladybird larvae!!

You'rrrrrraaaaWinnerrrrrrr

Can't tell the species with any certainty, but from one silouhette I'd say Harmonia axyridis is a fair educated guess - if you want aphids killed that's probably a good thing - fierce little omnivores those

Cheers, Arp

[Suzanne B]

Originally Posted by Pudding4brains

You'rrrrrraaaaWinnerrrrrrr

Cheers, Arp

Hoooooorraayy!!!!!

I'm soooo pleased they are ladybird larvae!!!

But not so pleased they could be Harmonia axyridis (Harlequins?).
As yet I don't think there have been any sightings of them in Cumbria Uk and I certainly don't want to be the first to find any!
The only ladybird I have seen in my yard this year was a 10 spot one on the 2nd May. Any chance my new arrivals could be related to that one?

Originally Posted by ericrovve

They look about the right shape but in silhouette difficult to tell. Are they a sort bluey colour?

Unfortunately that was the best photo I could get as they were so tiny and it was really sunny today and I couldn't get close enough to see them properly . (excuses, excuses!! ). When I went to check the colour later they had all dispersed and although I could still see some of them I couldn't distinguish the colour, they just looked black.
I'll have another look for them tomorrow, hopefully I'll find them and get a better photo.

Anyway, Thanks for the replies.
I am really pleased to have them right outside my back door, it's certainly made my day.......not so sure about the aphids though!

[Pudding4brains]

Well, like I said - I can't be certain. Ada.dec. is a valid option too.

Many species have "all black" first instar larvae, although on closer inspection they often appear to be more brownish or blueish or so - to the casual observer they'll just seem black.

Colour changes a lot though, even throughout each stage. When just shedded they have fairly light/bright colours and it will take a few hours for the "typical" colours to settle in again. Towards the end of each instar, just before shedding, colours seem to get less "hard" again, almost "smokey"/"pastel" or even transparent at times. And of course the definite colour pattern most people know/recognize from the 4th instar larvae only develops slowly.

In this image the hatchlings are quite fresh (light coloured still), they will become dark black and then gradually "puff up" to the almost whitish late instar 1 larva (2nd row left). The typical colour pattern for the Har.axy. I4 larva is quite slow to develop and until well into the 3rd instar these can still easily be confused with the native Har.qua. larvae.


Best character for telling the "little black jobs" apart is the size & shape of the "brushes". From one of your silhouettes I got a hint of a Harmonia impression and Har.qua. would be on "needles" not leaves - so Har.axy. But the image is really not good enough and even from much better images the whole thing (ID of 1st/2nd instars) is quite "iffy". Brushes on Adalia are much shorter than Harmonia (and a different shape), but on 1st instars they seem relatively large/prominent - much more so than on older instars. So, can't really 100% rule out Adalia or even some other genus.

Cheers, Arp

[paul m]

Yes, these are first instar coccinelline larvae just emerged from eggs. Could be any one of many - 2-spot, haxy &c ..... certainly in UK we have lots of emergences at the moment of Harmonia axyridis, the 'harlequin' ladybird ....

[Suzanne B]

Originally Posted by Pudding4brains

Cheers, Arp

Thanks Arp, that is an amazing set of photos and really helpful to know the stages that I'm looking out for. Also thanks for all the info too.

Originally Posted by paul m

Yes, these are first instar coccinelline larvae just emerged from eggs. Could be any one of many - 2-spot, haxy &c ..... certainly in UK we have lots of emergences at the moment of Harmonia axyridis, the 'harlequin' ladybird ....

Thanks Paul, I've got my fingers crossed it's a native one

Here's one taken this afternoon. Still not very clear I'm afraid, but the best one out of about 100.


Suzanne

[Pudding4brains]

Originally Posted by Suzanne B

... the best one out of about 100.

I know just what you're talking about

While cowardly noting that I give you no guarantee, I do remain with my first analysis of Har.axy.. Compare with the center image in my series ... (2nd instar).

Sorry Arp

[Suzanne B]

Here's another little update on my ladybird saga!
Well, yesterday I went out on another one of my hourly pilgrimages to count the ladybird larvae and this is what I saw:









I had seen quite a lot of ladybird 'shucks' on the leaves but hadn't realised that this is what they were doing.....I thought they were being eaten by something.....so I am very pleased to have learned something else!!!
I never realised ladybirds were so fascinating.

[Pudding4brains]

Hi Suzanne,

Great moulting series!

If these are the same larvae from the first images I have to correct the "preliminary" ID - these are unmistakably Adalia larvae (or do you also have the older Harlequin instars in your garden by now?)

Anyway, these could very well be the 10-spot (I think they probably are) but I would need a clear shot of the side of one (other than freshly moulted) to tell 2-spot and 10-spot apart with any certainty.

Cheers! Arp

[Suzanne B]

Thanks Arp.
As far as I know these are the same larvae that started this thread.
They are on a container plant that was on its own although I have started to move other plants in its direction to boost the supply of aphids!
Here are a couple more shots, although I'm not sure if they are old enough to distinguish anything as they still look quite light.
I'll put them on just in case but I'll look out for some more tomorrow.





Thanks

[Pudding4brains]

Hi Suzanne,

Originally Posted by Suzanne B

That is a very interesting picture - has me baffled somewhat.

To distinguish 2-spot from 10-spot larva it's usually enough to look at the bottom row of brushes on the abdomen. All/mostly white indicates 10-spot, clear black brushes on the mounts (usually gray-ish) indicates 2-spot. These are "interesting" in that they're a tad too dark for my taste of 10-spot and too light for 2-spot. But 10-spots are generally also more "light" coloured all over, where as 2-spot has a more darkish gray basecolour in comparison. Based on that I think this is most likely a 10-spot, but I'm not as sure as I usually would be (say 80-20 in favour of 10-spot ??)

Having said all that, please keep in mind I'm also only very much a "beginner" at all of this and still learning

Cheers, Arp

[Suzanne B]

Thanks Arp.
There's never much activity in my yard as there isn't much for wildlife to have a go at, but I do tend to notice when something new arrives and so far I have only seen two ladybirds this year. A 10 spot first and then a 2 spot a couple of weeks later.
I will definately keep my eye on these larvae and be poised with my camera if I'm lucky enough to find them when they go to the next stage.
It's been so windy here for the last couple of days though that they have all dispursed so finding them is a little harder than it used to be.
Still intriguing me though, time will tell I suppose and I'll update when I manage to get some more photos.
Thanks
Suzanne

[Suzanne B]

I was just doing my hourly ladybird count this morning and was really surprised to spot this happening!
(Not surprised it was happening, just surprised I saw it!! )









These were taken between 9am this morning and 5.35pm this afternoon and I was really pleased to be able to see this fascinating process first hand.

[goosey]

You have a great series of different stages there . It's so interesting, especially when you get to see it all happen - you have been so lucky.
I have just found some eggs today on the Eupatorium, but am not sure which ladybird has laid them as I have, 7 spots (x3) a 22 spot and a Harlequin all on the same plant. I hope I am fortunate that the larvae will stay close by so I can see them develope and see which type. Last year I saw some hatch but the dispersed so quickly I only saw one at the larva stage when it actually looked like a ladybird larva and not a tiny black spider.

[Suzanne B]

Thanks Goosey.
I must say it has been amazing to watch them all for the past few weeks and see what actually happens. I bet my neighbours think I've gone quite mad staring at a plant everyday!! But it is quite addictive looking for them and seeing what's happening to them next.
I am keeping my fingers crossed that I see the last stage now, just to see what they actually are.
I know I shall really miss them when they go though.

Anyway, good luck with yours and I hope you manage to keep tabs on them too!

Suzanne

[paul m]

Some people in Netherlands getting worked up about Harmonia axyridis - but this is surely not new, is it?

Skynet - Nieuws: Plaag lieveheersbeestjes teistert Laken

[Suzanne B]

I had quite a few ladybird pupae and they were all much the same dark colours, but I also found this one on the brickwork of the wall. I saw it 'hatch', but then after a few hours lost sight of it before it got any spots.
Can anyone tell from the photos what it was?





I've also got some photos of the other ladybirds which look like two different types so maybe one of them is this one?
I'll do a seperate post for them or it will get confusing (for me!)

[Suzanne B]

Here are some of the ladybirds complete with spots.
Will these change colour any more or is that it and I have got different ladybirds than I was expecting altogether?











Some of these were taken on the 9th June and some today, I'm not sure if they are the same ones as they have been appearing at different intervals and are hard to keep track of, so any help in identifying them will be much appreciated.

Thanks

[Pudding4brains]

Hi Suzanne,

Congratulations on your little ones! :P

I'm having all the beetles from the last two posts down for Adalia decempuntata - very typical for those to keep the creamy-tan colour with hardly any spots developing for the longest time. Next year these will be nice and red (or black) ...

The pupa I'm not at all sure about, it usually helps a great deal to have some idea of the size and to see the old larval skin that is now draped around the 'foot' of the pupa. The orangy colour of the pupa could indicate something like 7-spot or harlequin, but it's a rather unusual orange (or a bit overexposed?) and pattern-wise I don't like it much for these. Assuming that the beetle on the second pic hatched from it, it should be Ada.dec. I think, but a strange colour of pupa for that one indeed - or it must have been that you took the pupa photo a few days earlier, just before the pupa reached it's final brownish colours??

Cheers, Arp