It's a funny old life...

Thank goodness you hadn`t already released them into your greenhouse ........

The funny thing is you have a mix of good Ladybird and the dreaded
Harlequin. You can see in 2 of your pics. the Harlequins crowding the
good Ladybird. In pic. 2,3 and 4 you can see the Good Ladybirds.
The Harlequins are killing all the good ladybird population and are now taking over.........Bad news : o(((
You are in a bit of a Predicament about what to do with them, lets hope
you get an answer Sid..........: o)))

The technical term for what you have there is: (and I quote!) A bit of a bugger! Lol

oh dear..what to do with them....glad its u not me...

Oh dear ( a quiet lol so that no one can hear ) I wonder if you are going to try and separate the good ones from the others.
I haven't seen a ladybird for years, but I don't want to see the harlequin ones.

That's not good news Sid....I would get rid of them, pick the good ones out for your greenhouse then destroy the others.......they themselves will destroy our Ladybird population...soon be spring then they'll be breeding...:o(

Ian pretty well sums it up lol

Freesia - yes, there are about 3 of our native 2-spots in there with them. I will have to try and rescue those. I think they're safe altogether at the moment as they are hibernating and are pretty sleepy and not feeding. When I was reading about harlequins yesterday I did read that they do seem to co-exist quite happily a lot of the time....I think the gist of it is that they turn cannabalistic when there is insufficient alternative food available....

Hywel - oh dear, I didn't read your comment all the way to the bottom and I've put a dozon ladybirds in the post to you! he he he....

Janey.....ohh.....ooo....errrr.....not sure I can do that.... <:-(

My prisoners are currently at home, still captive in their...u'hum! MY sandwich box. I do hope they don't stage a breakout while I'm away....

Freesia - in fact the only pics that show native ladybirds are 1 & 3...I think the ones you are looking at look like our native 7-spot ladybird, but they have more than 7 spots on them if you look closely....I *think* I'm right, but hopefully the Survey folks will confirm.

Wow Sid , I've got my book out here on my desk , it's very difficult to tell , the dark ones look like .. 2- spot ladybird dark form ..... I wondered if the others were called Eyed ladybirds which can have as many as 18 spots .. each spot is edged with a narrow ring of white or pale yellow ... can you see that on your ? I can't on the photos .....

Hi Amy, yes some of them do look like the black-background 2-spots, but they are quite a bit bigger. If you look at picture 3 you can see right in the centre a black-background 2-spot next to one of the giants!

I've just been in to see the accountant and she's being plagued by ladybirds today!! lol Not to mention the fact that I've got another TEN crawling around on my window!!

Gosh yes that is big in comparison , it says here that if it's less than 5mm ( 1/5th inch ) it is definitley not a Harlequin ladybird , yours do look over 5mm .. It sounds funny that you have so many crawling around the offices .. but it isn't if you have a bad lot in there mixed with the good guys .. .
I'll be very interested as to the outcome ...

Yes, I'd say they're at least 5 mm long.....Monsters!

Interesting, Sarah. I've just read an article that says that Harlequin ladybirds are getting a bad name when they are actually not as bad as first thought. They eat aphids! I'll have to re-read it, and see if they are monsters or not - but I think not, as far as I recall.

I think it depends on your perspective Barbara. From a gardening point of view, ANY ladybirds or their larva are good news. But....from a nature conservation point of view some articles say that the Harlequins threaten to wipe out our native species. On the other hand, I did read somewhere that they are often seen cohabiting, which they were in this case - all species huddled together in the window frame for protection. If I get home and the 3 or 4 natives that were in my sandwich box with the Foreigners are now missing, I think we can safely say that they're bad news if you're a 2-spot ladybird!! I'll probably find the British ones huddled together in the corner griping about how all these Foreigners are coming over 'ere, 'aving their big families, nicking their greenfly, not knowing how to cue...... LOL

Sid, I'm so sorry but I've laughed with tears running down my face. Very silly to sit here alone, laughing like this but I can't help it after reading your last comments.

I too have googled and seen conflicting reports on the H ladybirds. I find it very difficult to kill anything and we have a long history of living alongside ladybirds. I can remember collecting them as children (just as you have in your lunchbox!) and then letting them free at the end of the day. Some say H ladybirds bite and cause an allergic reaction. Do you feel like being a guinea pig and testing that out :)

i was taking some dead foilage away other day when i spotted some ladybirds in the hollow of dead plants, so i carefully placed all the dead foilage back again as not to disturb them, will leave the removing of dead foilage till the last frost has gone i think just to be sure, im like you and couldnt kill them, just let them go away from your area :o)

I have been bitten by a ladybird. They have strong jaws and I did swell like an ant bite.
I understand it is the concern that they are out competeing our native ones for food and therefore breed better.

I still say our Ladybirds are in pictures 2,3,and 4 Sid.....i do not think
they will be in there much longer, we will have to wait and see.
How long can you keep them in that container, without harming them?
I have found some of these Harlequins
in my Garden, i put them on my Compost
heap at the very back of the Garden on my Wildlife Plot. I cannot bear to kill or destroy any insect or creature. Interested to find out how you get on
with your little critters.........do you keep them together or Separate
them.........shall we vote on it Goyers!!! What do you think Sid? LOL

I get so confused by these arguments: our environment is changing and as a result some of our animals arent doing so well. Should we accept the inevitable and welcome the newbies or fight for the old ones that are no longer well adapted? I think in the case of insects its almost impossible to get rid of a new species without haphazardly killing off related species. So unless there is something really awful about them (eg Colorado beetles, mosquitoes) we might just have to put up with them. Not ideal but then what is? I would just let them go and agree with Freesiaperson that a compost heap is a good place.

Seaburngirl how did you get bitten - are they like bees and not aggressive or more like horseflies?

The Harlequin ladybirds are supposed to have an "M" shape design just above their heads, and apparently are quite aggressive and bigger than our native ones. I too don't like killing any insect or creature, but if ours are at risk from them then I would do. You could say...what about the aphids or slugs....if our plants are being eaten alive...would we wait for Ladybirds to find them or get the soap spray out???? Surely our own Ladybirds need our support in their time of need?

Just had a look on the internet Sid, where it says that along with a diet of aphids the Harlequin or Asian Ladybird eats the larva of the British Ladybird and the eggs of our butterflies and moths.....

I looked these Harlequin Ladybirds up on Google. How scary they sound
Janey. I read some facts about them, 1 was they are getting into
houses now, once they are in, they are terrible to get rid of. they seem
to like the heat, which makes them breed a lot more. And, believe it
or not they do bite, especially when they are Hungry their bite is quite
aggresive. There is something awful about them Sussexsarah i did not
know this much until i looked up Google.............just take a look.

There is a lot of controversy about them Fp isn't there.......:o(

Janey, i wonder what Sid is using now for his sandwiches, thats if his
sandwich box is still occupied? I wonder.......LOL

OMG Just give me a Harlequin butty...light on the mayo ! Lol

Just a quick update - I have not heard back from the Ladybird people, which is dissappointing. I took the ladybirds back to near where I found them and released them into a thick shrubbery where they should be fine I think.

Gee - glad to have given you a giggle. I didn't get bitten by the ladybirds, but I think they might be like fish, in that they don't try to feed if they're below a certain temperature. If they were warmer, perhaps they would have bitten? God 'elp us if they learn to knitt tiny jumpers!!!!! x-D

Sbg - wasn't wearing a jumper was it?

S-Sarah - yes, you make a good point. I think any way we look at it, the Harlequins are here to stay.

Janey - oh dear that doesnt sound good.... Some of mine had the M shape, but some didn't, but they were still clearly Harlequins coz of their unusual markings.

Freesia - they were fine. I eventually released the 2-spots into my ghouse (only the next day to find one of them stuck to one of the sticky traps I'd put up to trap algae flies). Luckily, I have a spare lunchbox he he...oh and by the way, it's Her lunchbox, not His LOL

Bb - perhaps the Harlequins are the answer to world hunger?!

Just an update - I've now received a reply from the Ladybird survey people and I've inserted it above for your information. Doesn't really tell me much, except that my ladybirds were indeed Harlequins.....

Thanks for the info Sid . at least you now know that you were right , I am going to look at their site and probably print off a colour chart for my grandchildren it will be something for them to look out for .... :o))

Good idea Amy :-)

i think new species is a sign of the times realy.its nothing new as the world has and is always changing .if it hadnt we could well be still living in trea tops and you would see t rex quite often.nothing stays the same .i remember a green fly eppidemic in the 70`s or 80`s and there were apserlutley millions everywear you looked.this in turn made a lady bug explosion of our natives .believe me when they ran out of green fly we including me were next on there food list .just the nature of the beast . things like this happen with our help ie the cane toad in australia or without it ie dinosaurs no longer ruling the earth for 50 million years so in the big picture whats the point in squashing them realy.good luck with your lunch box take care bye for now sid lol xx.

Yeah, I suppose it's a bit like standing on the beach and telling the tide not to come in... I must admit, I have not seen any harlequins in my garden as yet. I did see 2 native 7-spots tho.

as dorris day sang what will be will be . i cant spell kay serar srerar lol xx

And Whip-crack-away-whip-crack-away-whip-crack-AWAYYYYYY....

Well that's the one I think of anyway ;-)

lol xx

Great blog. I never knew so much about Ladybugs as the American call them.
I have found the ones without spots which I belive to be the femae ladybug or ladybird & the spotted one are the gentbugs as I have named them. Not sure tho. does anyone know?
I really must read up on Ladybirds. Thanks for the link.

Do the Harliquin mate with the natives?

Hi Angie - thanks - I'm in the UK and there's a 'big thing' at the moment that Harlequin ladybirds are migrating in from the continent, having originated in Asia. The problem is that they are agressive and when they run out of aphids they will turn cannibal and start chomping their way through our smaller more docile native ladybirds. I don't think Harlequins will have made it to the Americas unless people have brought them. With our natives, we don't usually get ones without spots, but the Harlequins are very variable and they sometimes don't have spots. I don't think it's got anthing to do with gender in their case, but it might be different with your native species. Enjoy your research!