Search - Articles

My interest in ladybirds has grown considerably over the last couple of years. As well as being able to tell a two-spot from a seven-spot, I can now comfortably identify less well-known species such as the 14-spot and 10-spot, along with the many

It amazes me how ladybirds survive winter outside - hibernation is an extraordinary phenomenon. To withstand winter as adults, ladybirds and other creatures must find suitable shelter, and they'll seek high and low to find it. I've tried

After last week's excitement about the ladybird party on the BBC allotment, I was delighted to learn that the UK Ladybird Survey had a stand at this year’s Gardeners' World Live.There’s always a few wildlife charities at the show and each year I

There currently appears to be the largest quantity of ladybird pupae I've ever seen in my garden. I'm not sure whether they are pupae of the standard UK ladybirds or the notorious harlequin, but they are here in force. Just the other day a friend

For the last few years I've noticed large numbers of harlequin ladybirds (pictured, left) visiting my garden in summer, and then hibernating inside my window frames over winter.The window frames also provide winter shelter for lacewings and many

The inaugural meeting of the Ivydale Primary School Natural History Club had its first show-and-tell session on Wednesday. The first ladybird of the year had made an appearance.It was crawling about in the back bedroom of one of the children and she

We are being invaded. I had not seen many harlequin ladybirds in my garden this year, but a few weeks ago I noticed that the larvae were climbing over the hedge from next door, in droves. This south-facing fence is covered with ivy and a

isn't very old, it's not more than 20cm in diameter at the base, but the bark is rough and gnarled enough to provide the odd nook and cranny for overwintering ladybirds.Surprisingly, these are not the recent alien invader Harmonia axyridis

. It is Clitostethus arcuatus, Britain's smallest, and perhaps rarest, ladybird. Of course, not being of the large, spotted, variety, it is not really counted as a true ladybird, and is not included in any of the online ladybird surveys. But it is a closely related

.Every year at Gardeners’ World Live I see the ladybird poppy (Papaver commutatum), and wish I had it. I never see it at any flower shows or public gardens, or even growing in people’s own gardens – but there it is, without fail flowering its socks off