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It turns out that the harlequin ladybird (widely tipped to devastate our native ladybird population) that I reported in my last post has accomplices. Nyctalus (from http://standandstare-nyctalus.blogspot.com/) and I found more in the same place today, including this multispotted morph of this highly variable species, and – much more interestingly – a fully developed larva that had anchored itself to an ivy leaf by its tail and was about to pupate. Presumable it will overwinter as a pupa and hatch as an adult next spring, but the fact that the species is breeding so late in the season up here in the North is quite remarkable. I wonder, incidentally, whether this species is attracted to ivy, given this plant’s attraction for other insects in autumn, which would be easy prey for a lurking harlequin ladybird while they are preoccupied with nectar and pollen.....
Had my first sighting of what I believe was a harlequin ladybird Harmonia axyridis yesterday, when I found it feeding on ivy flowers near the entrance to Durham University Botanic Garden. It matches the published descriptions and photographs, although the legs are usually (but not always) brown, whereas in this specimen they are almost black. It has already been recorded in Durham and further North (see http://www.harlequin-survey.org/images/maps/harlequin_years_20July09.jpg) but this is the first that I’ve encountered. It seemed to be nibbling away harmlessly at the nectar on the surface of an ivy flower, but maybe it was just lurking and waiting to do something unspeakable to a visiting native ladybird species....... current opinion is that it could have a devastating effect on our insect fauna as it becomes more widespread - see http://www.ceh.ac.uk/news/news_archive/2009_news_item_28.html. I'll certainly be keeping a lookout for it next year. The wing colour patterns on the harlequin ladybird are astonishingly varied (see http://www.harlequin-survey.org/recognition_and_distinction.htm#).
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