lots of ladybirds

[naturelover]

i went to ely today with my daughter in law she had a dental appointment,i looked after Ruby her daughter while she went in,after she came out we walker round ely for a while in the pouring rain then went back to the car,while sitting in the car having a fag i was looking at peoples gardens as you do,then saw something strange,we were parked next to a 4 or 5 ft wall and there in all their glory dozens of ladybirds between the bricks on the mortar,not just one sort they were all different,red orange and yellow all togeather,thing is though they looked quite small so perhaps they were babies,so that answers the question where they have gone this year. (ELY)

[Cazzie]

Mystery solved then... there all in Ely!

Shame you didn't have a camera with you...

[Paul mabbott]

Sounds like 'harlequin' - shame you didn't have your camera
Interesting that they're out in the rain - they don't like that at all! Any more than we do ...

Originally Posted by naturelover

i went to ely today with my daughter in law she had a dental appointment,i looked after Ruby her daughter while she went in,after she came out we walker round ely for a while in the pouring rain then went back to the car,while sitting in the car having a fag i was looking at peoples gardens as you do,then saw something strange,we were parked next to a 4 or 5 ft wall and there in all their glory dozens of ladybirds between the bricks on the mortar,not just one sort they were all different,red orange and yellow all togeather,thing is though they looked quite small so perhaps they were babies,so that answers the question where they have gone this year. (ELY)

[naturelover]

the wall was under a big old tree, also the pointing was quite far back so i dont think they were getting wet.

[Dogghound]

Wont have been babys as there larvae are quite different, small species such as two spot can be associated with this type of behaviour, plus are often different colours with melanic forms often quite common in this species, or as paul says harlequins which also differ alot.

[naturelover]

they were small but most of them had lots of spots on them,talking about six or eight spots especialy the yellow ones.

[Dogghound]

Originally Posted by naturelover

they were small but most of them had lots of spots on them,talking about six or eight spots especialy the yellow ones.

Right well likely to be harlequin then.

[aeshna5]

Originally Posted by Dogghound

Right well likely to be harlequin then.

I agree the variety of forms suggest Harlequin, but these are pretty large as ladybirds go, not a small species or the erroneously suggested "baby" ladybirds that were mentioned. It would have been good to seee a photo to be certain. Of course there is the possibility that more than one species is involved here!

[naturelover]

sorry i never had a camra with me,i wish i had i can assure you,dont think i have seen so many togeather in one spot since we had swarms of them everywhere,dont know the year cant remember,i was visiting the dentist dont normally take a camra with me.

[aeshna5]

Originally Posted by naturelover

sorry i never had a camra with me,i wish i had i can assure you,dont think i have seen so many togeather in one spot since we had swarms of them everywhere,dont know the year cant remember,i was visiting the dentist dont normally take a camra with me.

I understand- the number of times I wish I had my camera with me; I never seem to think of using the one on my mobile!

!976 was when I remember swarms of mainly 7-spot Ladybirds arriving on the beaches + making front page headlines.

Some species have large winter aggregations whch exceptionally can occur in hundreds + even thousands + often the same places are used by successive generations.