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Its a warm October day around here (E Shrops), about 20°C or more in the sun, and we're getting a lot of ladybirds all about. They were crawling on the cream coloured walls of a couple of buildings in Bridgnorth earlier, and loads on the front of the house in Shifnal now. Mostly like this 'un; I counted 18, maybe 19 spots on this example, and the others look similar. A quick check suggests they're probably one variation of Harlequin Ladybirds
Anyone else getting them?
Funnily enough, I saw one today. Only one, but don't see many. Unfortunately it was in the split second before I whimsically hit its residing nettle branch with a stick.
We’ve got them in North East Derbyshire, lots of different varieties, also got a lot of flies that look similar to fruit flies so they’re probably after those.
Same. We are in South Shrops, just North of Ludlow. I've been grass cutting and garden tidying today and they are everywhere. In the greenhouse, hundreds on the side of the house and I've been brushing them off myself all afternoon. Our chickens were free ranging and enjoying the abundant novelty snack!
Walking my sister's dogs today and came back covered in them.... Found a couple in my hair, several on the back of my t-shirt.
Mid-Essex.
Yep, house [Cheater<] is covered in them!
(Same this time last year)
Same here in warm (18°) Suffolk. On my lunchtime stomp I had to walk through quite a swarm.
Been like that here for a week. Ladybirdageddon.
West Berks.
I have literally thousands over the gable ends of my house. It's insane. Been hoovering them up from the inside as the window was open!
Not a flippin one round here on my river Tees ride.Maybe they'll fly up from the south tomorrow.
Saw loads down the workshop. Came in and saw this thread. At which point my wife came in from the garden and the first thing she said was that there were thousands of ladybirds outside!
Saw a few when picking my youngest up from school yesterday (Aberdeen).
Took a photo as I've never seen a black one with red spots before.
Also had one hitching a ride on my bars last time I was out on my bike.
Fun fact, the collective noun for a group of ladybirds is a "loveliness".
At least six stuck to my newly painted woodwork, every variation in colour and spottage that I've ever seen. I gave up flicking them off during painting, PITA!
At least 30 of them (mostly dead) in a clump inside our kitchen last night.
Yep, it's gone ladybird nuts here.
We had LOADS of daddy long legs recently, they seem to have been replaced by ladybirds now
Yep, loads yesterday in the warm weather down here in the Surrey hills; multiple times of collecting them and putting them out as they do seem to congregate around our old sash windows
@citizenlee your black-with-red-spots job is almost certainly 'just' another variety of the Harlequin Ladybird, like my 18/19 spotter
https://www.woodlandtrust.org.uk/blog/2021/03/ladybird-identification/
Bloody forrin ladybirds, coming over here, stealing our aphids... 😁
Yup,loads up here in the 'far' north.
It's been a strangely mild after the storm
Oh,and watch out for the grumpy ones 😉
OPs post was 6th October, my wedding anniversary. on the day, 13 years ago, it was very similar, warm and sunny and my wife's dress at a couple of points in the afternoon had dozens of ladybirds on it. Worcestershire, so not far off, either. We were very happy with the symbolism, given the day!
Nope, mine is just full of spiders of all sorts. Big, small, thin and cute ones (jumping spiders I think they are call). I had to trap them to throw them to the road from time to time (the big ugly ones).
We found a dead tree absolutely teeming with the things at a National Trust place the other weekend. One of them actually bit my daughter, I didn't even realise they could! I see them differently now, vicious sods.
- They also squirt their toxic blood from their knees. As my dog found to his cost.