Ladybirds

[PeteXXX]

Bloomin' hundreds of them around here!!

Luckily, it's only their knees that are poisonous..

 

[ianrauk]

Yep. We had a swarm last Friday. Red and Black Harlequins.

 

[numbnuts]

Yes loads of them they keep coming in the windows

 

[Mrs M]

Not many up here, unlike 1976 when they were everywhere!

 

[Levo-Lon]

Thousands all over the work building ,lots of them are Harlequin varietie variety

 

[I like Skol]

For the last couple of years we have had group of them apparently hibernating in the small gap around our permanently slightly open bathroom window. Must be about a hundred or more of the little blighters and occasionally one wakes up and starts flying around while i am trying to brush my teeth.
Not sure why they choose that spot. The plastic windows don't harbour any obvious signs of nourishment, maybe the steam/moisture from the shower is enough to sustain them, although the one that wake up early and fly around end up dead within a day or so.

 

[fossyant]

Leo our rescue cat was going crazy with one on the lounge ceiling, the 2 kittens and the big cat weren't interested. Poor bugger still thinks of insects as dinner, having lived wild for about 8 months.

 

[Heltor Chasca]

1000s of Ladybirds still munching on aphids feeding on the sycamores where I work on Tuesdays. Through the low sun, you could literally see the ‘rainfall’ of honeydew. Amazing to see the proportions.

 

[Cuchilo]

I had one knee me in the face today , thought it was a bit odd as they normally just wave .

 

[postman]

Loads in and around the conservatory yester while i was painting,they do not like RAID spray.I hate bugs flies wasps of all kinds.

 

[Randomnerd]

Postman, saving the world, one squirt at a time....

 

[I like Skol]

Just encountered this little critter sneaking around by the bathroom sink this morning.

I have seen a couple over the last few days so decided to check the usual hiding spot and found this....

That should be enough to send @postman running screaming for the aerosol of destruction!

I should really do a quick headcount so I can see if the population grows at all or how many are left come February. If I suddenly stop posting during the winter you will know the dormant ladybirds have woken and devoured me in my sleep!!!!

 

[tamiya]

Ladybugs are fantastic natural defense against aphids & mealybugs... otherwise aphids will swarm in plague proportions. Just wait till the aphid queens appear and they're pumping out 1000s of offspring per day

 

[ianrauk]

Ladybugs are fantastic natural defense against aphids & mealybugs... otherwise aphids will swarm in plague proportions. Just wait till the aphid queens appear and they're pumping out 1000s of offspring per day

That's all well and good but here in the UK, the swarms at the moment are non native Harlequin ladybugs which cause a heck of a lot of harm to our own native ladybugs. As well as competing with native ladybugs for food, they are also cannibalistic and will eat native bugs.

 

[I like Skol]

That's all well and good but here in the UK, the swarms at the moment are non native Harlequin ladybugs which cause a heck of a lot of harm to our own native ladybugs. As well as competing with native ladybugs for food, they are also cannibalistic and will eat native bugs.

It's worse than that! They come over here sh4gging our lady ladybugs and infecting the with STDs.

www.express.co.uk/news/uk/1029994/ladybird-invasion-swarming-std-harlequin-ladybirds-infestation-uk-your-home

I quickly read this and thought for a moment that some of them were also transvestites.....

According to that Express article I should just hoover them up? Their description of how to identify the Harlequins is like this;

The STD carrying critters also sport a variety of pale coloured wings, including yellow-orange, orange-red, red or black and can vary between the colours.
Harlequin ladybirds can also be notice by the spots on their back, ranging from none at all to 21, varying in colour from orangey-red to plain black.

That sounds like a pretty broad definition of a ladybird that includes the 'normal' ones too. What do I do? Am I harbouring disease ridden foreigners or a solitary cluster of native birds hiding from the invaders?