Ladybirds take Brixton

[Minnie_the_Minx]

Yes

Returned from hols yesterday and had left windows open to give the place a good airing and there's dozens of them in the house

 

[Skim]

They have advanced to Loughborugh Junction. Well, one of them. She is peering at me through the window.

 

[wurlycurly]

Is anyone else being invaded by ladybirds?
There are twelve in my front window alone, and more elsewhere in my flat.
They are pretty dark with lots of spots. Do they nest? Might I be under attack?
I live on Atlantic Road.

I'm in Tower Hill and it's raining ladybirds. Never seeen anything like it. They stick in your hair if you hang about long enough. Not sure what they taste like ... yet

 

[gaijingirl]

I'm quite upset that we don't have any ladybirds... is it 'cos of the cats - they tend to kill anything that moves.. ?

 

[dogmatique]

Argh! One just landed in my hair whilst reading this...

I'm so old I remember the ladybird plague in '76.

Particularly going for a swim in an outdoor pool with lots of dead ladybirds floating around so that every time you surfaced you got them in your hair, and an open mouth would mean a mouthfull of Ladybird.

Ughh. The things childhood fears are made of...

 

[Louloubelle]

They are probably the pest ladybird, the harlequin ladybird, whose presence is threatening our own native ladybirds with extinction

Useful link with ID photos here
http://www.ladybird-survey.pwp.blueyonder.co.uk/H_axyridis.htm

There's also a thread about them in suburban

Look at the photos and if they are harlequin ladybirds you can report them to DEFRA here
http://www.harlequin-survey.org/recording.htm

eta

you should also be on the lookout for the best the rosemary beetle, a new and profoundly damaging pest beetle. The extremely attrative and jewel like adult beetles produce disgusting larva that live by covering themselves in their own poo while chomping their way through sage, rosemary and lavender. They destroy these plants quick time and if you see any you should remove them and kill them

http://insects.suite101.com/article.cfm/rosemary_beetle

about 2 x life size

 

[hayduke]

They are probably the pest ladybird, the harlequin ladybird, whose presence is threatening our own native ladybirds with extinction

Yup they're definitely Harlequins. They kind of don't bother me too much when they first start their sneaky shimmy into the flat looking for somewhere warm to wait out winter. But as soon as I turn the heating on (not yet, but surely just a cold snap away), they all think it's spring and within ten minutes my kitchen resembles the skies over London in 1940.

Minus the Messerschmitts and Spitfires natch.

And I'm never really that excited when they land on my neck...

 

[Gramsci]

Last few years ive had lots of ladybirds.They like my bathroom -i have old wooden windows.Im going to check what they are but they look like the new type of ladybirds from the photos and links posters have put up.At first they were Ok but after a while you find them everwhere.

 

[Minnie_the_Minx]

Have just checked what we've got after spraying them with insect killer yesterday and half of them are still alive

We have ones with lots of spots and ones with two spots on each wing and there's dozens of them

 

[Minnie_the_Minx]

Picture of them. Look like Harlequins to me

 

[hayduke]

Just so very lovely to know that I am not alone

We are very lucky to have this virtual street corner...

Now the real one has a 14-year-old rude boy harlequin ladybird bossin' it

 

[Louloubelle]

The situation re these ladybirds is really very serious and very bad news for our native flora and fauna.

Can I ask all of you who have seen these ladybirds to PLEASE report then to the Harlequin Ladybird Survey it only takes a couple of minutes to do online

http://www.harlequin-survey.org/recording.htm

I just got an email regarding my report and also some photos I sent in (they are keen to get decent photos for educational purposes). Close ups using a macro and photos of numerous ladybirds together would be very helpful

anyway, email as follows

Thank you very much for your ladybird photo. You have correctly identified a harlequin, Harmonia axyridis. This is a valuable record for our survey.

The photos are utterly fantastic and I would love to use them for educational purposes - I credit the images as requested. Thanks again.

You may like to know that we now have confirmed records of the harlequin from many sites across southern England, East Anglia and the Midlands. Further north there are a large number of records from Derbyshire and Cheshire and a few from Staffordshire, Humberside, Lancashire, Yorkshire and county Durham. The harlequin has now also reached Wales, with records from Glamorgan, Monmouthshire, Pembrokeshire and Carmarthenshire.

If you would like to download a colour ladybird identification sheet, please click on the link at this website page
http://www.ladybird-survey.org/UKladybirds/UKladybirds.htm

Thanks again and best wishes

Dr Helen Roy


so, get your cameras out and get reporting those ladybirds

 

[Louloubelle]

Picture of them. Look like Harlequins to me

yup those are them

 

[Minnie_the_Minx]

yup those are them

Have just filed a report with them as you suggested and sent that photo

 

[Pieface]

we've got them up in streatham too.....

 

[Louloubelle]

Have just filed a report with them as you suggested and sent that photo

nice one

eta

you get a game as a reward

http://www.naturedetectives.org.uk/play/games/spotted.htm

 

[Minnie_the_Minx]

nice one

and have just received an email identical to yours

 

[Louloubelle]

and have just received an email identical to yours

I did wonder if that would happen LOL

did she say that your photos were "utterly fantastic" too?

 

[Minnie_the_Minx]

I did wonder if that would happen LOL

did she say that your photos were "utterly fantastic" too?

My mistake. No mention of how utterly fantastic my pictures were, but then I wasn't expecting that

"Thank you very much for your ladybird photo. You have correctly identified a harlequin, Harmonia axyridis. This is a valuable record for our survey.
You may like to know that we now have confirmed records of the harlequin from many sites across southern England, East Anglia and the Midlands. Further north there are a large number of records from Derbyshire and Cheshire and a few from Staffordshire, Humberside, Lancashire, Yorkshire and county Durham. The harlequin has now also reached Wales, with records from Glamorgan, Monmouthshire, Pembrokeshire and Carmarthenshire.
If you would like to download a colour ladybird identification sheet, please click on the link at this website page http://www.ladybird-survey.org/UKladybirds/UKladybirds.htm
Thanks again and best wishes
Dr Helen Roy
UK Ladybird Survey
email: harlequin-survey@ceh.ac.uk
website: www.harlequin-survey.org"

 

[Louloubelle]

well they were some of my best ladybird pics

I asked whether the ladybirds might have destroyed my curtains but she didn't reply to that.

It's very weird how the fabric has just disintegrated where the ladybirds were last year. The rest of the curtains are fine and I have a horrible feeling that they're connected.

If anyone else's curtains get destroyed a few months after being landed on by loads of ladybirds I'd be interested to hear about it

 

[CharlieAddict]

gosh...i live in sw2 and there are tons outside me flat window!
saw around 10-15 in my kitchen yesterday.
and if i wasn't as hung over, i'd have killed them all.

 

[Minnie_the_Minx]

well they were some of my best ladybird pics

I asked whether the ladybirds might have destroyed my curtains but she didn't reply to that.

It's very weird how the fabric has just disintegrated where the ladybirds were last year. The rest of the curtains are fine and I have a horrible feeling that they're connected.

If anyone else's curtains get destroyed a few months after being landed on by loads of ladybirds I'd be interested to hear about it

Congratulations on your pics. They were pretty impressive

Can't help you with your curtains as I don't have any

 

[CharlieAddict]

damn asian immigrants.

the daily mail

 

[Minnie_the_Minx]

damn asian immigrants.

the daily mail

they'll be attacking the native swans next

 

[hayduke]

My lovely ladies...

 

[Minnie_the_Minx]

I'm going to sweep all mine up in the week and take a photo. Can't do it at night as lightbulb's gone in the room they're in

 

[Louloubelle]

great photo!

Make sure you fill out a sighting report, then you get a reference number to send in the photos with

 

[Gramsci]

Looks like my place .Little fuckers are all stuck togather in corner of ceiling.Yuck.

 

[Ms T]

I'm quite upset that we don't have any ladybirds... is it 'cos of the cats - they tend to kill anything that moves.. ?

We've got some, but the cats definitely have them in their sights.

 

[Louloubelle]

We've got some, but the cats definitely have them in their sights.

You might want to consider getting rid of them in some other way

when threatened they 'reflex bleed' that is to say they secrete a haemolymph, a foul smelling and tasting yellow liquid to deter predators. Birds don't like it, which is one of the reasons they are spreading so fast. Your cats might find it distressing to get a mouthful of nasty yellow putrid stuff

I've picked up loads of them by hand and always just wash my hand thoroughly afterwards.