Humph.
After mentioning in the harlequin bug thread that I'd seen my first dead h. ladybird last week, today I find a VERY alive one in my own garden!
Have reported it to the harlequin survey http://www.harlequin-survey.org/recording.htm and sent them this photo so they can verify it.
(http://www.moonbells.com/A4Apics/harlequin2tn.jpg)
Oh dear !
moonbells
Fancy a swap!! ;)
(http://i57.photobucket.com/albums/g220/Biscombe/bug_harlequin2.jpg)
Still fighting the battel, bloody massacre yesterday!!!
:-(
Just found a suspect ladybird in the front garden and thought 'bit late for you'... before I took a closer look and realised what it really was... >:(
Alas, no real surprise -- I'm in the London area, which is already well infested -- but it's the first one I've noticed round here.
Thanks for your brilliant picture, moonbells, and the link: if I can't borrow a digital camera at least I can pack the little blighter off to the survey people in some container or other.
My sympathies. I've now got to fifteen, with another couple I spotted yesterday and couldn't catch as I was en route to elsewhere. Also saw a larva, and have now caught one of the other colour forms. I still can't bring myself to kill them - am using them as bio control for aphids on my chillies - I tap the aphids off the leaves and drop into the pot with the harlequins in!
Will have to despatch them soon though as proper aphid predators are ordered. Only way I can get the conservatory cleared for winter, or I'll lose the stuff I'm about to bring in, too. Been a bad year for bugs under glass. I'd have had more aubs if they'd not been buried under a heaving sea of greenfly... yuk.
moonbells
I have a Harlequin ladybird living in my bathroom! It is huge!
I have reported it, but I don't have the heart to kill it - well not at the moment - it is such a lovely looking bug!
This is the first one I have ever seen, but I guess there will be more!
I didn't find it easy to despatch the first lot. But I keep finding them, and if I wasn't catching to report, it was easy to knock them on the ground and apply a boot.
If it helps you decide whether to kill it, the survey site says
"Harlequin ladybirds have a tendency to aggregate in buildings in large numbers during autumn and winter.
* Many people find harlequin ladybirds a nuisance in the house, and do not wish to share their home with a few tens of thousands of harlequins
* As a defence mechanism many ladybird species exude a yellow fluid (called reflex blood) which has an unpleasant acrid smell, and which can stain soft furnishings
* When hungry, harlequin ladybirds will bite humans in their search for something edible. Ladybirds in houses, woken from dormancy by central heating, may bite people as there is no food available. The bites usually produce a small bump and sting slightly. There are a few documented cases of people having a severe allergic reaction to harlequin ladybirds.
"
moonbells
Moonbells! They sound awful! :o I certainly don't want them in the house if they are going to bite me - I've had enough of being bitten by spiders this year!