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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

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

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

Ladybirds are still on the wing in my London garden. I've not taken down the runner beans, as they are covered in blackfly - food for the ladybirds and garden birds. Do you have ladybirds on the wing in your garden? Or have they moved into your

I've been hand weeding all day and I haven't seen one single ladybird - nor any larvae.  What's happened to them all?  I was amazed at the amount of ants there are out there.  Also the greenfly and blackfly population has expanded on last year

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