Ladybird Watch
Background
Ladybirds are insects belonging to the order Coleoptera, that is the 'Beetles'. These insects are characterised by a harden front pair of wings covering the body. Ladybirds belong to the family Coccinellidae within the beetle order. They are small, have short antennae, are mainly round in shape and have a retractable head and retractable legs. There are 46 different species in this family in Britain, including 24 species of the 'typical' ladybirds with strongly coloured wings with various spotted patterns. Ladybirds are very beneficial insects as most of them feed on aphids (greenflies and blackflies) that often are pests on some garden plants and crops.
Get involved
Here we invite everyone who sees a ladybird in the parish to report it to O.B.S. in order to monitor their presence.
If you need help identifying ladybird species, check the 'Field guides' section of this web site. More information on British ladybirds is also available on the UK ladybird Survey's web site.
Send your ladybird records directly by email, or include them in your 'Wildlife diary' if you already fill one in. A ladybird recording sheet is also available in the 'library' section of this web site. All confirmed records will be forwarded to the UK Ladybird Survey.
Update
The 15 species seen in the parish so far...
2-spot ladybird last seen 16/05/10 |
7-spot ladybird last seen 10/10/10 |
10-spot ladybird last seen 05/07/09 |
11-spot ladybird last seen 15/10/06 |
Harlequin ladybird last seen 10/10/10 |
24-spot ladybird last seen 02/06/06 |
Bryony ladybird last seen 24/09/06 |
Adonis ladybird last seen 28/04/07 |
14-spot ladybird last seen 19/07/09 |
16-spot ladybird last seen 18/05/09 |
22-spot ladybird last seen 30/07/06 |
Pine ladybird last seen 06/05/07 |
Heather ladybird last seen 08/04/07 |
Cream-spot ladybird last seen 05/07/09 |
Orange ladybird last seen 13/07/08 |