Alan Holmes wrote:
We don't have 'ladybugs' we have ladybirds!

Can we presume that the OP was quoting the Associated Press?
The time suggests that it was written for USA consumption.
Part way through the piece the transatlantic nomenclature was
clarified.

Peace on Earth. Good will to all men. :-))

--
ned

http://www.bugsandweeds.co.uk
last update 12.12.2005



"madgardener" wrote in message
...
By RASHI KHILNANI, Associated Press Writer Wed Dec 28, 6:56 PM ET

LONDON - British ladybugs are in danger of being overrun by insects
from Central and Southeast Asia that are encroaching on their food
supply, experts said Wednesday.

Harlequin ladybugs, already a pest in North America, were first
spotted in Britain in September 2004 and are flourishing without
the
presence of natural predators.
Michael Majerus, of Cambridge University, predicted the foreign
ladybugs - the insects are known in Britain as ladybirds - could be
found all around the country by 2008.

"There are currently 46 species of British ladybird," he said. "A
few of those may be lost 10 to 20 years down the road."

Scientists launched a survey at the Natural History Museum in March
to track the pesky beauties. Majerus said the public had been
extremely helpful.

Harlequins are orange with black spots or black with either red or
orange spots and larger than their British counterparts.

Introduced to the United States to control aphid populations, the
harlequins morphed into pests by 1988, blemishing soft fruit,
ruining
grapes meant for wine production and invading homes.

After similar insect control programs in continental Europe,
harlequins made their way to Britain by hitching rides on flowers
shipped from the Netherlands and Belgium.

The bugs are able to fly for miles and up to 10,000 feet high and
Majerus believes that many simply flew over the English Channel.

Harlequins have a voracious appetite and eat aphids, pollen, nectar
and even other ladybugs. They have even been known to nip humans
when hungry.

If temperatures are right, harlequins can produce two or three
generations annually. Native British ladybugs are limited to one
generation per year.

Harlequins also threaten other species that eat aphids, and those
who, in turn, eat them, and can disrupt entire ecosystems.

"This is a concern worldwide in terms of invasive species unless we
want to have a global fauna," said Helen Roy, a ladybug expert at
Anglia Polytechnic University.

Currently, scientists have no way of stopping the bugs.

___

On the Net:

http://www.harlequin-survey.org/