Its time for another update to my Personal Photography Project.
You can check out this post for a more detailed explanation, but essentially my aim with this is to show you some pictures of invertebrates, and by using the simple black background you can appreciate how beautiful they are.
Previous Themes:
Spiders - Butterflies - 'Green' - 'Moth Trap Finds' - Higlights - Caddisflies
7-Spot Ladybird - Coccinella septempunctata
For this week we will look at Beetles, and more specifically at a section of Ladybirds. In the US they are refereed to as Ladybugs which is slighty confusing as they are not True Bugs (from the Hemiptera Order). Instead they are a small group of beetles from the Coccinellidae family. The 7-spot Ladybird, pictured above is one of the most common species of Ladybird here in the UK, and indeed, much of Europe.
There is a slight problem though, it may well be the most common here, but it turns out I havent actually got a photo of this species in my portrait set up yet! I need to remedy that next year when they appear again
Anyway, lets have a look other species of Ladybirds I have seen in the garden...
Orange Ladybird - Halyzia sedecimguttata
Starting with this one, the Vernacular Name (or Common Name) is Orange Ladybird, which is quite obvious lol. The distinctive colour makes it easy to identify. It is becomming an increasingly common sight to see across the UK, and often turns up in Moth Traps, which was how I saw this little guy...
14-Spot Ladybird Propylea quattuordecimpunctata
Next up is the 14-Spot Ladybird Propylea quattuordecimpunctata It is much smaller than the Orange Ladybird. Although the name suggests it has 14 spots, in reality it is vary variable.
22 Spot Ladybird - Psyllobora vigintiduopunctata
This individual may look similar to the previous one, but is instead a 22-Spot Ladybird. And unlike the previous species, this one helpfully always has 22-spots!
Harlequin Ladybird - Harmonia axyridis
And now this article takes a downturn. This is a Harelquin Ladybird. It is an invasive species here in Europe and across North America too. The Harlequin was introduced to America in the 70's as a way to control Aphid Numbers. They quickly became one of the most common species.
The problem is that not only do they out compete our native ladybirds for food, but they are know to be cannibals, and eat other ladybird larvae. It is yet another example of how our lack of understanding is disrupting the balance of nature. As a species it is now to widespread to stop, so all we can do is watch and see what the results will be.
While in my care, all individuals are looked after, and after Photographs have been taken, they are all released safely outside.
That includes the Harlequin, I could have squished it between my fingers, but it would make no difference to the numbers here.
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