September Ladybirds

Apart from the excitement of the Scarce 7-spot Ladybird and the Hieroglyphic Ladybird there were several other good finds last month.  The smallest ladybird I have seen, and the equal smallest anywhere at 1.1-1.5mm, was the appropriately named Dot Ladybird, another new species from my mother's garden in Northamptonshire.

 

Not quite as small but also black and hairy was a Forestier's Ladybird.

Closer to home I found another small black hairy one, a Scymnus nigrinus,

and another very small ladybird, a Scymnus suturalis,

Also several Adonis Ladybirds,

a 2-spot Ladybird form typica,

and the less common and more striking 2-spot f. sexpustulata.

Rather more camouflaged were a Larch Ladybird,

an 18-spot Ladybird,

and a Striped Ladybird.

Others were an Eyed Ladybird,

a Pine Ladybird,

and a Cream-spot Ladybird.

And finally more Hieroglyphic Ladybirds.  This one was in Elemore Park in Co Durham,

and a rare black form in Havannah, just down the road.

By next month all the ladybirds will be hibernating and attention will shift to overwintering sites such as gravestones.

Sweet sixteen

I have never seen anything like this.  Several thousand ladybirds, all in one place.  They were clustered on posts supporting a newt fence in Coventry and there were hundreds on each post and dozens of posts.  Most were on the east sides of the posts with a few on the north sides. This is a new species to me, 16-spot Ladybird (Tytthaspis sedecimpunctata).

The 16-spot Ladybird is one of only a few vegetarian ladybird species (Orange Ladybird, 22-spot Ladybird and 24-spot Ladybird being others) and feeds on pollen, nectar and fungi.  It is mainly a grassland specialist but is also found in brownfield sites.  It is pretty common and widespread down south but doesn't venture farther north than south Yorkshire, which is a pity as we have plenty of grass up here.

I also saw a couple of 7-spot Ladybirds which show how small the 16-spot Ladybirds are.

And a real bonus, a solitary Adonis Ladybird, only the second one I have seen.