they are ladybird larvae so are not pests but a wonderful greenfly chomper.

ugly critters aren't they. nice find.

Oh wow, thanks Seaburngirl. This tree looks like it is covered in them.

agree, lady bird larvae or we say Ladybugs.

The ladybug's a beetle.
It's shaped like a pea.
Its colour is a bright red
With lots of spots to see.

Although the name is "ladybug",
Some ladybugs are "men"
So why don't we say "gentleman bug"
Every now and then?

Every spring I get half a dozen customers bringing these in and asking "What do I spray these with?" It's sometimes a hard sell to convince them that they're beneficial. Poor ugly ducklings! :)

Thanks Bathgate, did make me smile. Showed hubby after Seaburngirl said what it is as he had never seen them before.

Don't worry Tug, I need no convincing lol, they are welcome to all the greenfly they can eat! :-) I though they looked pretty in a weird way but my brother used collect some really weird bugs and reptiles when we lived in Brazil and Sri Lanka so grew up with weird.

Really like these -great aren't they?

Yes they are Sue. :-)

99% sure that is a Harlequin ladybird larva, which is an invasive species.
The native ladybird larvæ are not quite so ugly or aggressive.

Thanks Buddlejagar, afraid if it is there is nothing I can do as on my neighbour tree and they are not talking to us, long story about their conifer hedge and not wanting to prune it and want to let it grow as tall as possible which would put my garden in shade. Jen

it looks like the 7 spot one also. there is quite a lot of variation in the species.

They all look pretty aggressive really.
either way it still eats lots of greenfly.

That sounds good to me Seaburngirl, got tons of them for them to munch on. :-).

harlequin adults are at least 1/4" or 6-8mm in length. British ones are 3-5 mm according to the id cards I have from the FSC.

look at the FSC id cards they are brilliant and cover lots of different nature subjects.

I will have to look at them, my brother all into that, he still has weird pets, 2 of them snakes so I won't go I to his flat anymore lol. Me, I'm into my cats and dogs but would love to know more about the insects around me. Thanks Seaburngirl