No, it is not a case of our ladybirds not eating their aphids but intruder Harlequin ladybirds (Harmonia axyridis). These ladybirds were introduced into North America from Asia in 1988 and some European countries in the 1990′s for biological control of aphids and scale insects.
The picture on the left shows what the Harlequin Ladybird looks like.
You can find a chart here showing our British Native Ladybirds, their sizes and what type of plant they are found on.
Wherever the Harlequin Ladybird appears it is usually followed by a decline of British Native Ladybirds.
Many people now view this species as a nuisance, partly due to their tendency to overwinter indoors and the unpleasant odour and stain left by their bodily fluid when frightened or squashed. They can get into houses through the tiniest gaps, even closed windows. When they wake up they often bite humans when looking for food, this usually causes a bump and stinging sensation but there are documented cases of severe allergic reactions to their bites.
Why should we be concerned:
They have a much longer breeding period than our UK ladybirds and it is feared that they may eat hoverfly, lacewing and our own ladybird larva.
Harlequin ladybirds are very effective aphid predators and have a wider food range and habitat than most other aphid predators (such as the 7-spot ladybird) and so easily out-compete them.
Harlequin ladybirds do not have a requirement for a dormant period before they can reproduce, as some ladybirds have (e.g. 7-spot and eyed ladybirds), and so have a longer reproductive period than most other species. In 2004 in London, harlequin ladybird larvae were found still feeding in late October, long after all the native species had sought overwintering sites.
Read the Harlequin ladybird fact file provided by the Harlequin Ladybird Survey website, which the above was taken from for more information and concerns.
If you find any evidence of Harlequin Ladybirds attacking British Native Ladybirds please send the details to:
‘harlequin-survey (at) ceh (dot) ac (dot) uk’
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Related Links:
UK Ladybird Survey on this website you will find lots of information to help you find and identify species, and online forms so that you can record your observations.
Buglife – The Invertebrate Conservation Trust is the first organisation in Europe devoted to the conservation of all invertebrates, actively engaged in saving Britain’s rarest bugs, slugs, snails, bees, wasps, ants, spiders, beetles and many more fascinating little animals.
Nature Detectives award-winning website and wildlife club for under 12s – run by the Woodland Trust.
Ladybirds of Ireland the site dedicated to the study and recording of Irish ladybirds.
Hi
I have just found several Harlequin ladybirds (black with two large orange spots) on our fresh Golden Bamboo plants in the staff garden
Our office is in Brighton East Sussex.
Also there appears to be an infestation of large ‘mealy’ type bugs on the bamboo also.
I found your article interesting!
We live in leicester and come down to iow often
at end of october saw lots of these harlequin ladybirds in the undercliffe near st.lawrence.
Are they common on the iow?
are their numbers increasing on iow?
Julian
I personally have not seen any but I have been told that there are a lot about.
Angie
I found more than 30 on the garden. Shall we left them there or they should be destroy?
I have just seen a ladybird which I have never seen before on my mint.Orange ,with one large dark spot on each side.
i love ladybirds at school we are having a ladybird hunt i found 15 everyone else found 1 love holly hunter
hi, have just found quite a large example of a harlequin in my garden in Gosport. Black back with two red spots
Do I destroy?????
I found one trying to eat one of our native ladybirds and I did kill it. I have had hundreds of native ones in my garden this year, it took a big leap of faith not to spray the blackfly with soapy water but it paid off in the end.
Personally I would. Look what happened to our red squirrels when the greys came!!
I found a harlequin ladybird on japanese knotweed near Halifax,West Yorkshire on Sept 13 2010 and have kept it alive in a plastic container
yesterday i saw my first harlequin on my window ledge in doors. Today while on the balcony i saw many more (killed 3) also some black ones with red and white on them. There seem to be quite a lot flying around. Address London N3
We spotted a black bodied harlequin ladybird yesterday in Evesham , it had perfectly round orange spots on its body with white spots for eyes and white triangle nose shape.
hi!
we found your diagram of ladyirds helpful, it helped us identify a nasty bug!! black with four yellow dots! we think its the bottom left one?!
found it in the house, put it in a container, what do we do?!
seen ma first harlequin ladybird tonight at the general hospital gardens in leicester the bug with the black body to red spots and 2 wight dots near head are they dangerous?
Found a black ladybird yesterday in the bath (Not filled with water!). It has two red spots and white patches round its eyes. It liked walking along a nailbrush, and is now in a plastic box still with the nailbrush for company,
and some leaves which it hides under.
I am thinking it would be best to put it in the greenhouse tomorrow and let Mother Nature decide whether it should survive. Whether it is good or bad, it has been an interesting experience to see this little visitor to our house.
Just found a black ladybird with two red/orange spot so googled to see what it was and found this site. Now I know it is a Harlequin Ladybird.
Useful being able to identify it but there seems to be no indication what to do with it. Others have asked the question before me but there appears to be no answers. I would hate to find that I have added to the demise of our native ladybird through ignorance. Is there no one that can advise??
I found an invasive harlequin ladybug in april 2010, in the caravan kitchen at Thorness bay holiday park near Cowes.
It looks exactly like the beetle in Science daily titled: Spread of invasive ladybugs explained (April 1st 2011).
I took a picture because I had never seen this species before (I study biology), I understand parts of Thorness are sites of special scientific interest for wildlife not found in other areas…
Anyway, this week I found the exact same species in my garden in South Wales
Until last year, we lived in Frome in Somerset and every year for the previous 3 years, our window frames became home to hundreds, if not thousands, of the bad ladybirds. To get rid of them, I sucked them up using the nozzle of my vacuum cleaner. Even so, I had to do it several times before we got rid of them. I love our native ladybirds even though they are really beetles but I detest these invaders!
Have found several pupa in my garden. I kept 3 in a pot indoors to see which ones they are. They are all Harlequin Ladybirds. I do not have any hesitation killing these as I do not want these taking over our indigineous ladybirds like the red squirrel took over our grey ones. Sorry to all you “greenies”.
Sorry got that the wrong way round ….like the grey squirrel took over from our red squirrel.
I have just found a Harlequin ladybird in my kitchen, I dont know if there are any in my garden as it is too dark to see