Ladybirds
Ladybirds
Many of you will have noticed large numbers of ladybirds congregating on the outside of houses. These come in many different colours and patterns but they are most likely to be the one species, the Harlequin Ladybird, which, as its name suggests, has a variegated colouring.
The one in the photo is plain orange but they come with spots, blotches and stripes – some even have 19 spots. An Asian species which first arrived in Britain in 2004, they have spread rapidly and are believed to out-compete our native species. Introduced into North America it is known as the Halloween Bug where it invades houses and is now the commonest species.