Small Harlequins

[goosey]

A few weeks back I post this harlequin image but was perplexed about the size, it was alot smaller than I was led to believe that harlequns are, smaller than a 7 spot on the same plant.
Paul said

Some of the last ladybirds produced in the year tend to be smaller than average because the larvae are foraging when there's little food left.

Yesterday evening (17.17 hours) this harlequin started to emerge (eclosure). This morning it has most of its black spots but is still very orange in colour (not the issue) but it is only 7mm! I measured it so it isn't guess work.
I would have thought this is prime ladybird time and there is plenty of food. Any thoughts please?

[Pudding4brains]

Hi Goosey,

7mm is a good size. Harlequins are supposed to range from (a little under?) 5mm to well over 8mm. The 7-spot is said to have a somewhat smaller range (5,5-8mm?), but overall they're about the same size. It's the similar looking Adalias that are much smaller (generally well under 5mm, with the odd exception: huge Ada.bip. females in South France or such ).

With all ladybirds males are notably smaller than females, and the food issue you quoted also plays a role (as well as temperature me thinks?). So, a badly nourished (as a larva) male Har.axy. will be notably smaller than a well fed (as a larva) 7-spot and vice versa. They will all however be larger than (mostly) all Adalia-lookalikes you may encounter.

Of course there are many other smaller species (14-spot, 22-spot etc etc), more or less like-sized ones (orange, creamspot) and the notably larger eyed ladybird, but those don't usually cause confusion (neither does the 7-spot of course).

Hope it helps.
Arp

[goosey]

Thanks Arp - I was some what confused and still doubting myself.

Another question. Do ladybird larvae shed their skin as they grow?
I have found several hollow ball like larvae which I thought had been eaten (insides sucked out or something gruesome). I mentioned this on my website and was contacted and told it was possible they hadn't been eaten, but they were shed skins. I would like to put all my speculation right one way or the other - thanks.

[Pudding4brains]

Originally Posted by goosey

Do ladybird larvae shed their skin as they grow?

Yes, they certainly do: Three times between the 4 larval stages (instars) and the last instar sheds it's skin to become a pupa, but then doesn't walk away from it anymore - the skin remains draped around the "foot" (tail actually) of the pupa.

Suzanne posted some nice series just the other week, so I don't have to dig up my own images

Before shedding the larva glues itself down to the substrate at the tail end, so the exuvia remain glued in place when the larva walks away.

Of course, larva also do get eaten or sucked empty (not seldom by their peers) but the end result will look quite different. If you find what basically looks like an empty tail end sitting on a leaf or so it'll be an exuvia

Cheers, Arp

[goosey]

Thank you Arp - that clears that up, it's definitely exuvia I have seen. You learn something new every day

[paul m]

Originally Posted by goosey

A few weeks back I post this harlequin image but was perplexed about the size, it was alot smaller than I was led to believe that harlequns are, smaller than a 7 spot on the same plant.
Paul said

Yesterday evening (17.17 hours) this harlequin started to emerge (eclosure). This morning it has most of its black spots but is still very orange in colour (not the issue) but it is only 7mm! I measured it so it isn't guess work.
I would have thought this is prime ladybird time and there is plenty of food. Any thoughts please?

I must have missed this. Harmonia axyridis is very variable not only in pattern but in size. I used to say it was 8mms +/- 1mm so this is within the normal range. Within a batch almost all the animals at the shorter end of the range will be males and vice versa.
I stress 'used to say' because, as noted earlier, late-Autumn/Winter emergences tend to be much smaller - partly due to lower temperature, perhaps, but mainly because there are more larvae in Autumn and less prey to share around .....

[paul m]

So they are quite variable in size but also in pattern: which is why they once had the more sensible common name of multivariate ladybird!
Early in the summer the succinea form may have few spots and these small ones. Much like this:

although I saw that yesterday!
More likely are ones with heavy spots which sometimes join up. Such as:

On some individuals the spots join up to form very dark individuals:

Even the forms (conspicua and spectabilis) which are predominantly black, become even darker:

Identification tip: however confused the elytral patterns become, the diagnostic white side to the forebody remains!

What is perhaps most intriguing about these patterns is that to an extent they are not genetically control: the degree of darkness is determined in part by the environment - the lower the temperature, the darker the animal.

[Tynanatior]

harlequins were made out to be bigger than that on my local radio station

[paul m]

Originally Posted by Tynanatior

harlequins were made out to be bigger than that on my local radio station

Normally they are - especially in the summer - but towards the end of the year when there are many of them but few aphids (or other prey) they tend to be a bit on the smaller side!

[paul m]

Originally Posted by paul m

..........Even the forms (conspicua and spectabilis) which are predominantly black, become even darker:

Identification tip: however confused the elytral patterns become, the diagnostic white side to the forebody remains!

What is perhaps most intriguing about these patterns is that to an extent they are not genetically control: the degree of darkness is determined in part by the environment - the lower the temperature, the darker the animal.

... and getting darker: this one has only a hint of red and, most unusually, very dark legs:

[Beverly Stayart]

Thanks for the pics and the help with identification.

[charlieb]

Originally Posted by paul m

Looks like something that falls out of the toaster when you shake it

[paul m]

Originally Posted by charlieb

Looks like something that falls out of the toaster when you shake it

That was probably my mistake - I should have tried to dry the raindrops off it in some other way ....

[paul m]

Getting smaller and darker - this one looks less toasted ():

However, it looks very crumpled, as if it had been sat on, and was unable to fold its wings away.

Despite there being quite a lot of aphids at this site, the ladybirds are eating some strange things. The other day several larvae were eating pigeon droppings and on this day some imagines were chomping away at chewing gum:

Possibly, with the large numbers of aphids and other insects, they have had enough protein but are searching for other nutrients: possibly sugars? Maybe the discarded gum was not sugar-free?

[Pudding4brains]

Howdy,

Nice series Paul - they certainly do seem to have trouble hatching properly around this time of year. When I did my little experiment last year (correction: two years ago - time rushes by like crazy) the better part of the beetles was so badly damaged that I felt too sorry to publish the images, except for a few relatively "well off" specimen in this collage:

Even of the ones I let hatch inside many came out badly. Of course, on both series there were no external damage sources such as branches or leafs striking at the pupae or at the beetles while still soft, so it must have something to do with temperatures while pupating or early pupal stages (or otherwise the "indoor" ones would haven been okay).

Cheers for your series of "the dark ones" though!

[paul m]

Originally Posted by Pudding4brains

........Nice series Paul - they certainly do seem to have trouble hatching properly around this time of year. When I did my little experiment last year (correction: two years ago - time rushes by like crazy) the better part of the beetles was so badly damaged that I felt too sorry to publish the images, except for a few relatively "well off" specimen in this collage:

Even of the ones I let hatch inside many came out badly. Of course, on both series there were no external damage sources such as branches or leafs striking at the pupae or at the beetles while still soft, so it must have something to do with temperatures while pupating or early pupal stages (or otherwise the "indoor" ones would haven been okay).
.....

Yes, there are many failed 'pre-pupae' i.e. larva that have attached to the substrate but failed to pupate. So I think that you're right. Presumably lowered night temperatures affect the rate of biochemical reactions during metamorphosis?

One other feature that may be notable at this time of year is the elytral surface (and other parts) having the texture of orange skin. This doesn't usually seem to have any effect on the ladybirds:


I've seen this peau d'orange from time to time on ground beetles; more rarely I've seen the occasional individual with distorted wings/elytra. This latter most often (i.e. five or six times!) on Nebria brevicollis recently emerged amongst many siblings during the summer. I've tended to put this down to overcrowding or cannibalism ....

[paul m]

Interesting maps of spread of H. axyridis in France - well established on the Mediterranean now:
Page

[goosey]

Originally Posted by paul m

Interesting maps of spread of H. axyridis in France - well established on the Mediterranean now:
Page

I like to see data like that, it makes things so clear.
Funny though, in my mind I would have expected the movement to be from South to North and not the other way, or at least spreading from the major ports outwards.
No escaping the fact how fast the spread has been though.

[paul m]

Well there you are then:
Harlequin Ladybird Survey - spread
There are ones for Belgium and Holland, I think.

Yes, most things that we gain spread from the south (or from warm to less warm climes) - those are mostly natural colonisations as a result of climate change or adaptation. However, H. axyridis is a north temperate beast from NE Asia; in fact its heartland includes Siberia so it's not surprising to find it coping with NW Europe but it might not like warmer areas?

[Pudding4brains]

Howdy,

My understanding is that the species was introduced in greenhouses in Belgium first and little later in the Netherlands too. Unbelievable this was ever allowed to happen even years after the problems with this introduced species in the United States had become obvious

A separate introduction occurred around the same period in Hamburg (Germany), that also must have carried slightly different genetic material as some very early records include the "axyridis" colour form that has not been seen elsewhere until much later.

The distribution in France basically follows the pattern north-south (coming from Belgium) but the species was established in the Marseille area very early on. I'm not altogether sure if this was due to hitching rides on Trucks etc (Marseille being an important harbour) or if the species was actively introduced there to fight aphids (I've read comments of someone from a monastery in the area to the effect). Probably both though. The main spread over all of France seems to follow some main autoroutes anyway so I would think that (unknowing) "man helped" spread is an important factor for bridging large areas of terrain.

One other feature that may be notable at this time of year is the elytral surface (and other parts) having the texture of orange skin.

Yes, I've certainly noticed that frequently on the late emergers too. I've been categorizing it under "partially uncompleted pumping up of the elytra" in my mind as the very fresh and unexpanded elytra of all "healthy" specimen have this "wrinkled" surface structure to begin with. But that's just me jumping to conclusions I probably should be more cautious about

Cheers, Arp

[paul m]

Nothing to do with the topic but if you look at the Google ads assigned to this thread, most of them are about curing skin problems: 'Get rid of unwanted spots' and the like!

Returning to the dispersal of the 'harlequin'; the German introduction was the earliest, apparently, but seemed not to take. The biggest release of the ladybird was in Holland where it was widely used for greenhouse control - I heard someone say that it was okay because they wouldn't live outside of greenhouses (this is said, correctly, of many ladybirds and other predators such as Cryptolaemus montrouzieri). However, in the late summer-early August 2004, millions were seen along the coastal regions of Holland and Belgium. Shortly afterwards they started turning up in UK. It's quite likely that some flew (or, probably, were blown) over the Channel, landing on the south coast (mostly in Kent). However, most were transported by train, boat or lorry: there were considerable numbers (as opposed to isolated individuals) in ferry ports and the tunnel terminal in Dover, Folkestone, Harwich &c ... but the largest numbers were in south central London (Battersea, Brixton, Clapham) where there are lorry terminals, intercontinental train sidings, and the New Covent Garden wholesale fruit and vegetable market .... the rest is history!

[goosey]

Originally Posted by Tynanatior

harlequins were made out to be bigger than that on my local radio station

Originally Posted by paul m

Normally they are - especially in the summer - but towards the end of the year when there are many of them but few aphids (or other prey) they tend to be a bit on the smaller side!

I found a tiny harlequin today on a stinging nettle -again I fell in to the trap of not thinking it was not a harlequin because of the size around the size of a 22spot.
Strange it was so small though being earlier in the season.



This is the only harlequin I have seen this year (I like the pattern on this one) , there seem plenty of other types around though.

[Pudding4brains]

Hi Goosey,

The size might be explained by it being a 10-spot Still a tad larger than a 22-spot though

Cheers, Arp

[goosey]

Originally Posted by Pudding4brains

Hi Goosey,

The size might be explained by it being a 10-spot Still a tad larger than a 22-spot though

Cheers, Arp

Is it really But it has a white face ( and I have a red one ) I should have checked for brown legs eh!
Thanks Arp

[Pudding4brains]

Hi Goosey,

Both have brown legs (normally)
Both have a white face (with a slightly different pattern of black marks)
Both (may) have the fold at the rear end of the elytra
Both have fairly similar elytral patterns (but sufficiently different)

I'm sure you already know this page? Usually helpful for comparing patterns as it has many all together on one page...

Arp