September 8, 2008
ladybird update
Since arriving back from the US my focus has shifted back from birding onto ladybirding. The most exciting news is that a ladybird I found at the end of June has now been confirmed as the 1st Cambridgeshire record of Rhizobius chrysomeloides, a tree-dwelling cryptic coccinellid. It is also the 15th specimen to be recorded in the UK in the Biological Records Centre database (although the species is described as 'established in Surrey' by the London and Essex ladybird surveys), and the most northerly British record. If only it were this easy to find a first county bird!
Almost as surprising was finding this Cream-streaked Ladybird, a fairly scarce conifer specialist, flying around in my flat!
I've spent much time staring up into trees looking for ladybird pupae as part of an ongoing experiment to look at levels of parasitism in our native species and the introduced Harlequins. This adult is attached to a Dinocampus coccoon, a parasitoid wasp which lays its eggs in ladybirds. The ladybird remains alive but paralysed as they are slowly eaten from the inside out by the wasp larva.
Since it is not immediately apparent if a ladybird has been attacked by a parasitoid, we monitor the newly-emerged harlequins for a few weeks. Here's a recent batch tucking into some artificial ladybird food.
A group of exotic maple trees close to my flat are absolutely teeming with Harlequins...
.. and Pine ladybirds. This species superficially resembles the four-spotted black form of Harlequin, but is much smaller and rounder, with a distinct lip around the edge of the wing-cases.
A few adult Two-spots have also emerged on the same trees. The spots on this one resemble the eyes painted on ancient Egyptian sarcophagi.
Up at the field station, the young elm trees still hold some well-grown Orange Ladybird larvae.
An Orange pupa. The black eyes of the adult are already visible.
Adult Orange.
A tiny 22-spot pupa.
