Ladybirds

[Suzanne B]

It's been so long since I saw a ladybird I've almost forgotten how to identify them. (in their simplest form I might add) .
I think this one is a 10 spot ladybird.
The only thing which is confusing me is the brown legs. Did I read somewhere that Harlequins have brown legs? And do UK national ones have brown legs as well or should they be black?
Anyway, here's the photo for a positive id please.

[paul m]

Yes, Adalia decempunctata. The clues are the rather faded looking red background and the positioning of spots (if it were a 'harlequin' with that number they would be at the front); size as well, of course. However, the clincher is the 'spotty' marking of the forebody (pronotum) - there would be a v-shaped mark on most 'harlequins' ....
Glad to see that you have a tleast one ladybird to sort out your aphids. Problem is that the 10-spot seems to prefer the aphids on trees rather than beans or roses ......
PS: of the mainly red European ladybirds most have black legs except for 10-spot, cream-streaked, water and (to an extent) Adonis'.

[Suzanne B]

Thanks Paul.
That info will be really helpful.
I actually do have a massive aphid problem on one of my two trees at the moment so he obviously landed in the right place.
These were taken in June but they are still around now.






And since I started this thread I'm please to say I've had quite a few ladybirds in the allotment, mostly seven spot but the odd two spot has made an appearance as well so all is well in ladybird land up here at last.

[paul m]

It's said to be a good year for nettle aphids (I forget their proper name at the moment) so ladybirds should be well fed. Up here we still have lots of ladybird pupae (and a few larvae) so there should be lots of 'adults' in a week or so ....

[Beverly Stayart]

Thanks for the info about how to distinguish ladybirds and the photos.

[paul m]

Originally Posted by Beverly Stayart

Thanks for the info about how to distinguish ladybirds and the photos.

I'm sure you get a very different range of species in Wyoming. Which are the most common? Do you have large numbers of the invasive Harmonia axyridis. There have been suggestions that the establishment of that species has not been as disastrous for native fauna as had been feared ..... which would certainly be good news.

[paul m]

Better late than never. We've probably mentioned the swarms of ladybirds (mostly 7-spots) in northern Europe this summer but I don't recall a picture. Not that I have a picture personally but there are several on Flickr e.g. a loveliness of ladybirds. on Flickr - Photo Sharing! in East Anglia but I believe similar were seen in Belgium and elsewhere?

[goosey]

Originally Posted by paul m

Better late than never. We've probably mentioned the swarms of ladybirds (mostly 7-spots) in northern Europe this summer but I don't recall a picture. Not that I have a picture personally but there are several on Flickr e.g. a loveliness of ladybirds. on Flickr - Photo Sharing! in East Anglia but I believe similar were seen in Belgium and elsewhere?

Not quite what you are talking about but an interesting observation anyway.
Today (29-10-2009) I noticed lots of flying activity around a pine tree, then the more I looked the more I saw flashes of red, it was ladybirds in their hundreds. They were flying in from all directions like on a pilgrimage to a certain place. Landing on the end of the branches then running like mad along them further into the tree. There were Pine Ladybugs-Exochomus quadripustulatus, 7-spot ladybird-Coccinella septempunctata, Harlequins-Harmonia axyridis and what I think maybe Chilocorus bipustulatus - Heather ladybird (3rd image). I was trying to take photos of the different types but they were landing in my hair,my hands and on my clothes and getting into my clothes, in the end I gave up.

I wonder what was happening?
Were they looking for their over wintering spot?
And why at least, the four species I noticed were doing it at the same time doing the same thing?
very weird!

[Suzanne B]

Hi Goosey

Funnily enough I saw a solitary 7 spot today and thought that was unusual but I definately can't compete with the spectacle your witnessed! How odd, it's not something you expect to see anytime really let alone at the end of October. It will be very interesting if someone knows what is happening here and whether it is happening in any other countries too.
Intriguing stuff!

[paul m]

Originally Posted by goosey

.............
Were they looking for their over wintering spot?
And why at least, the four species I noticed were doing it at the same time doing the same thing?
very weird!
..........

Yes, quite unusual for most of them to be flying about although not uncommon for Harmonia axyridis on a sunny day. As you suggest, most likely to be looking for an over-wintering spot. The 'heather ladybird', Chilocorus bipustulatus is not a common animal in UK - rather localised because, allegedly, it is associated with Calluna heath. In London we mainly find it on ornamentals which I assume to have been imported from southern Europe. Around the Mediterranean it is one of the most abundant species where it lives on aphids and scale insects on olives and oleanders particularly.

In some ways I find the species which you did not see quite striking. On pine trees I would have expected some or all of 18-spot (Myrrha octodecimpunctata), striped (Myza oblongopunctata) and cream-streaked (Harmonia quadripunctata) ladybirds in some numbers - possibly also eyed ladybirds (Anatis ocellata). These are almost wholly confined to pines where they can be quite numerous.

[goosey]

Originally Posted by paul m

In some ways I find the species which you did not see quite striking. On pine trees I would have expected some or all of 18-spot (Myrrha octodecimpunctata), striped (Myza oblongopunctata) and cream-streaked (Harmonia quadripunctata) ladybirds in some numbers - possibly also eyed ladybirds (Anatis ocellata). These are almost wholly confined to pines where they can be quite numerous.

Perhaps they were already there further in the tree and didn't need to make the flight, after all it was just the active arriving ladybirds I saw.

[paul m]

Originally Posted by goosey

Perhaps they were already there further in the tree and didn't need to make the flight, after all it was just the active arriving ladybirds I saw.

Good thinking - but worth you poking your nose deeper into the tree to see what is resting there!
Whatever, it's good to read a report like this because nost people
would assume that ladybirds and other insects disappear at the end of September whereas there is always some insect activity .... somewhere ..

[Pudding4brains]

Hi All,

Personally, I have yet to find Myrrha and Myza in the Netherlands (they certainly are around though ), but while sniffing around in pine trees also keep a lookout for Aphidecta and maybe even Coccinella magnifica, especially when there are big ant nests about. All worthwhile finds I'd say

From heather Chi.bip. is another one I don't see much, and I totally missed the opportunity this year to find Coccinella hieroglyphica as these supposedly where abundant due to a "plague" of Lochmaea suturalis (the larvae are their main food source). An even better find on (dry?) heather would be Exochomus nigromaculatus - not sure I will live to see the day.

I should maybe put some of those on my photograph wish list for next year and make some efforts to actually finding them as opposed to just "finding" whatever crosses my path

[paul m]

They're more common than we think unless we spend a lot of time in coniferous (especially pine) plantations. All of them are found in large numbers, for example, around Thetford (Norfolk) in the Brecklands. Personally I've not found a striped ladybird in the wild and have next to no records for it from the London Area but it is very common in Scotland.

Overall M. 18-punctata is probably the least common but I've found it twice: on a Pinus mugo in my back garden and on Hampstead Heath (on Pinus sylvestris) -
Hampstead Heath


E. nigromaculatus is not a British native and the few findings have been attributed to escapes from biological control use: it is a species commonly released in Europe.

However, as you say, plenty to look for on conifers!

Originally Posted by Pudding4brains

Hi All,

Personally, I have yet to find Myrrha and Myza in the Netherlands (they certainly are around though ), but while sniffing around in pine trees also keep a lookout for Aphidecta and maybe even Coccinella magnifica, especially when there are big ant nests about. All worthwhile finds I'd say

From heather Chi.bip. is another one I don't see much, and I totally missed the opportunity this year to find Coccinella hieroglyphica as these supposedly where abundant due to a "plague" of Lochmaea suturalis (the larvae are their main food source). An even better find on (dry?) heather would be Exochomus nigromaculatus - not sure I will live to see the day.

I should maybe put some of those on my photograph wish list for next year and make some efforts to actually finding them as opposed to just "finding" whatever crosses my path

[paul m]

In East Anglia this year there were two 'floods' of ladybirds: in July-August swarms of 7-spots (Coccinella septempunctata) appeared at the coast and then in October there were thousands of harlequins (Harmonia axyridis). I think similar happened elsewhere in Europe.

However, it's not just Europe that gets these things. I was looking at a recent copy of Antenna in which there are startling images of aggregations of the convergent ladybug (Hippodamia convergens) in the Rockies.
Ladybug invasion paints Colorado town red | MNN - Mother Nature Network
This is nothing new, indeed collecting the ladybirds for resale elsewhere in USA has long been a commercial undertaking.

[paul m]

A building society in Essex had a wizard idea to encourage young savers - I'm not impressed and think they should have consulted on their design -
Press release * Saffron Building Society