Ladybird, ladybird fly away home ......
By green_finger
11 comments
During the whole of spring & summer I only saw one ladybird & that was walking up the side of my computer screen.
Much has been written about the invasive Harlequin variety & the parasitic wasp, indeed I wrote a blog about invasive species. The ladybird has other enemies too but why there have been so few this year is open to speculation & the UK Ladybird Survey website welcomes all sitings & is collating info.
Today, whilst eating my lunch in the conservatory, I spied one walking up the window frame, I put it outside & resumed my lunch, then I saw another one & another & another & another ……
As I took them all out I noticed still more in flight, what was going on, where were they coming from & why today?
Well, I don’t know the answer but one south facing wall of my home had many more walking all over it.
There were all kinds of patterns some had lots of small black dots, some had fewer, some were black with just a couple of red dots, a few had the two white ‘eyes’ that could have been harlequins or maybe they were the 7 spot type, I am unable to distinguish the types.
I started counting them but gave up after 73.
Looking online it says they gather together to hibernate so maybe today was the day they all had marked up on their internal calendar.
When my OH came home an hour later I wanted to show him this sight but every last one had vanished.
If you would like to try & ID any that you might see here is a PDF file that shows the most prominent UK species …
http://www.ladybird-survey.org/downloads/Ladybird%20descriptions_Info%20pack_2006_v.1.3.pdf
9 Oct, 2017
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Comments
Ha ha, Eirlys, no sherry for either of us, I promise you.
I gathered about 8 from indoors, the rest were all on same piece of wall outside & it was a lovely mild sunny afternoon not winter as the video link you posted showed.
9 Oct, 2017
Wow, such a large sighting. I wonder if they are going to hibernate somewhere in your garden. Think of all the greenfly they could eat next year.
9 Oct, 2017
They would be very welcome, Sue, although tbh I didn't see many of those either.
10 Oct, 2017
Wow lots then did you ID them in the end with your link.
10 Oct, 2017
No, 3d, I think that's best left to the experts. I'll just be glad for all the varieties & thankful they are still around.
11 Oct, 2017
I'm glad to know there are still some around. I saw a very tiny one two years ago but none since. Before that I had not seen one for many years.
In the past they were not so rare.
I've never seen any variations of pattern, just the ordinary ones.
11 Oct, 2017
I hadn't seen any either, Hywel, not for ages. The sudden appearance of so many all at once was quite a surprise, there were all sorts so probably the harlequin type as well, today I saw just one - it was black with the 2 white spots that look like eyes.
12 Oct, 2017
I think they swarm sometimes. I remember one day many years ago I was in Tenby and thousands of them landed on the pavements. It was impossible to walk without stepping on them. I did try not to squash any but it was impossible. They were too daft to fly away, they just stayed there and got squashed ! :D
12 Oct, 2017
I seem to remember that or it may have been somewhere else where that happened making the news - it was a long time ago.
13 Oct, 2017
It was in the 70s :)
13 Oct, 2017
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Fascinating! I have seen up to a dozen on a West-facing wall, but nothing like your number.
Discovered this information:
https://www.mnn.com/earth-matters/animals/blogs/why-do-ladybugs-gather-massive-swarms
Guess your conservatory proved a great meeting-place for your ladybirds. match.com
(Did your Other Half check the sherry bottle?) :O)
9 Oct, 2017