Ladybird defenders of my blackcurrant crop

 Every year in late spring the blackcurrant bushes in my garden are plagued by aphids that multiply unnoticed under the leaves, until they began to curl. That's usually the time that ladybirds, those useful aphid predators, begin to congregate on the bushes. It's probably the ladybird larvae that are the most effective predators, rather than the adults, so it will be a while before they appear, but these three ladybird species were feeding on the bushes yesterday. They are all very small, about half the size of the most common, most familiar 6-spot species.

2-spot ladybird

10-spot ladybird

14-spot ladybird

Ladybirds

It's been a good year for ladybirds in our garden - here's a selection of the species that have visited so far:

2-spot ladybird

7-spot ladybird

10-spot ladybirds

Melanic 10-spot ladybird - black and red colours reversed

Cream-spot ladybird

Orange ladybird

14-spot ladybird


Most of these appeared on blackcurrant and gooseberry bushes - probably because both have been infested with aphids and mildew that are eaten by various ladybird species.

14-spot ladybird

Several bloggers, including Caroline Gill at Wild and Wonderful , have remarked on the shortage of ladybirds earlier in the year. We had a few 7-spots in our garden in late spring but, as yet, no second generation individuals of that species.

Yesterday this 14-spot ladybird put in an appearance. This is one of the smaller species, less than 4mm. long, with very variable colour patters. The typical form has 14 distinct spots but this form, where some of the spots merge to form an anchor shape on the elytra, is quite common too.

This species feeds on aphids and this individual had a tiny victim in its jaws.