Everyone likes ladybirds’ (also known as the ladybug) right? I mean, they look pretty, they’re harmless, they eat those nasty greenfly and even come in a range of colours, patterns and sizes! There are some 46 resident species of ladybirds in Britain (with about 3500 species of Ladybirds world-wide), but amongst them now walks an evil, cold-blooded killer.
(Image right from this url: http://www.harlequin-survey.org/recognition_and_distinction.htm)
Originally native to Asia, Harlequin ladybirds, Harmonia axyridis, are the most invasive ladybirds on Earth and are already the most widespread ladybird species in North America having only been introduced there in 1988. They were first found in south-eastern England in 2004 but have since spread rapidly north and west. While they do eat aphids (a sort of environmentally friendly garden DIY pest control product if you like), they also eat many of our local native ladybirds and are relatively large and breed quickly.
An interesting Ladybird fact: they secrete small amounts of a foul-smelling, toxic alkaloid solution from their legs as a warning to predators such as ants or birds – you can see and smell this sometimes if you handle them.
The other problem with these insects is that they can come in a range of colours and forms (a characteristic that gives them their English name), that make identification tricky. If you look at one with the head facing away from you, there is usually a quite distinctive ‘M’ shape on the pronotum (the head section) but on some of the black or multi-spot forms it can look quite blurred.
A great website has been set up by the Harlequin Ladybird Survey team, which aims to monitor the spread of the Harlequin across Britain and assess its impact on native ladybirds. Here, you can see clear images of their various colours and patterns, compare them to the native species and fill in a form when you see any to notify the survey organisers of location, habitat and other details. You can find out more and get to know the enemy at www.harlequin-survey.org.
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I’m all for biodiversity, infact 2010 has been declared the International Year of Biodiversity by the United Nations, but I’m against these foul smelling immigrants!!
They eat out Ladybirds?! Oh dear, I wonder if our ladybirds see them as a threat, or do they just ignore them until they start taking a bite?
how can our household of six flats get rid of these ladybirds, they are settling on our windows, getting in our homes and multiplying!, we do not want to harm them but want rid if possible, opening windows is not an option at present, they are of a mixture and yes some when picked up do smell!
how can we get rid of many ladybirds from our home?
It’s not all that easy to remove every one, but you can certainly try a few things… One good way is to use a vacuum cleaner (you may want to use one with a disposable bag, as lots of ladybirds together can smell bad) and you can hoover up lots in one go. Then use a spray like the Ant & Crawling Insect Spray or Insectrol blue top to mop up the remaining few. Make sure they are Harlequins before you start!
See http://www.rentokilproducts.com for more.
New Atlas and Variation in Ladybirds:
This is an all points call for ladybird records in Cheshire , Halton, Warrington , Wirral and Stockport areas.
I’m desperate for Ladybird records and any other members of the Coccinellidae, as I’m currently gathering the data for a future ladybird atlas in Cheshire . There are presently huge gaps in distribution of even our commonest species so I want all records please. If you are able to do so please put them directly on the system through RODIS (http://www.rECOrd-LRC.co.uk ) and through that route I will get any that require validation. Failing that please e-mail them to me a birderjeff@sky.com
I need your records of common as well as rarer species but below is something to be mindful of:-
A word of caution, ladybirds are fairly easy to identify and there are a limited number of species but several species can show confusing variation. I’ve recently posted a blog on my website to demonstrate the variability of one of our commonest ladybirds (10-spot Ladybird): http://www.jeffclarkeecology.co.uk/site/My-Blog/4-of-a-Kind.html . The same degree of variability can also be seen in 2-spot, Harlequin and to a lesser extent in Cream-streaked Ladybird, 14-spot and so on.
If you want to participate but need a good in-the-field guide I recommend the excellent FSC Guide to Ladybirds of the British Isles ISBN: 1 85153 297 8 for just £2.75
If you are planning to send in any records please double check yourself before sending a definite record. If you have any doubts please feel free to contact me and I’ll do my best to help you out.
Many thanks for your help. Looking forward to your records.
Kind regards,
Jeff Clarke
Cheshire County Ladybird Recorder
i know im commenting a bit late but my mums house became invested with these little b*ggers in a matter of days just crammed in every corner on her ceilings!! this sounds cruel but they gave me the creeps after a while when they became in there hundreds that i sprayed them with window cleaner and they died straight away.. her house has been free from these since.. i had some at mine too but i felt pretty bad killing them at my mums so i let them be free to go as they please and after the weather changed they went (they’ve been gone a few months now YAY; i don’t feeling like a murderer =))