Has anyone any first hand experience of harlequin ladybirds?
A friend of mine has asked me to ask you for help on behalf of a
friend of hers.
This lady lives on the end of a row of houses in Bradford on Avon.
She is beseiged by the things, even getting in her house through open
windows. Nobody else in the row of houses has seen them.
Will the winter kill them off? Is there anything which can be done.
I've suggested they Google them but have not done so myself.
Help please?

Pam in Bristol

"Pam Moore" wrote in message
...
Has anyone any first hand experience of harlequin ladybirds?
A friend of mine has asked me to ask you for help on behalf of a
friend of hers.
This lady lives on the end of a row of houses in Bradford on Avon.
She is beseiged by the things, even getting in her house through open
windows. Nobody else in the row of houses has seen them.
Will the winter kill them off? Is there anything which can be done.
I've suggested they Google them but have not done so myself.
Help please?


If it was a definite identity of harlequins I would squash them. Despite I
would hate to do that.

In message , Pam Moore
writes
Has anyone any first hand experience of harlequin ladybirds?
A friend of mine has asked me to ask you for help on behalf of a
friend of hers.
This lady lives on the end of a row of houses in Bradford on Avon.
She is beseiged by the things, even getting in her house through open
windows. Nobody else in the row of houses has seen them.
Will the winter kill them off? Is there anything which can be done.
I've suggested they Google them but have not done so myself.
Help please?

Pam in Bristol

I have spells when I keep finding dead ladybirds on a windowsill where
the window is always closed, but there is a vent in the room.. I have
found red on black and black on red varieties.

This somehow came up in conversation when I was out with a walking
group, and one other guy was having the same experience in his house.
Everyone else looked blank about it.
--
Gordon H
Remove "invalid" to reply

On 04/11/2010 21:59, Pam Moore wrote:
Has anyone any first hand experience of harlequin ladybirds?
A friend of mine has asked me to ask you for help on behalf of a
friend of hers.
This lady lives on the end of a row of houses in Bradford on Avon.
She is beseiged by the things, even getting in her house through open
windows. Nobody else in the row of houses has seen them.
Will the winter kill them off? Is there anything which can be done.
I've suggested they Google them but have not done so myself.
Help please?

Pam in Bristol


Hi Pam,

I don't really think there's much that your friend can do. The winter
may dispose of some but, clearly, many survived last winter's icy grip.

Perhaps I'm the only one out of step here, but I've ceased getting
terribly worried about them. The reasons?:-

1. They alledgedly eat *lots* of aphids, even more than our native LBs.

2. They alledgedly only eat 'our' LBs when there's nothing else (the one
thing that concerned me).

3. I've got enough aphids to feed both populations, esp. early summer.

4. We're prepared to *buy in* other non-endemic bugs to eat our pests,
but can't accept free ones!!?

5. Many proprietory poisons and even detergent-based deterents are
similarly non-selective and therefore kill good as well as bad insects,
but we're prepared to accept them .. and pay for them.

6. Evolution takes these natural events in its stride; my worrying won't
change that. Ergo: I don't worry.

Please don't think I'm making light of another's concern, but I have yet
to be persuaded that these new bugs are such a serious risk. I'm much
more concerned about our sick and threatened bees. I hope your friend
can see 'her' LB problem in a similar light.

I'm sure her LBs are coming into the house to shelter over winter. If
she really wants to kill them, she's got the perfect opportunity:~).

Spider






--
Spider
from high ground in SE London
gardening on clay

Pam Moore wrote:
Has anyone any first hand experience of harlequin ladybirds?
A friend of mine has asked me to ask you for help on behalf of a
friend of hers.
This lady lives on the end of a row of houses in Bradford on Avon.
She is beseiged by the things, even getting in her house through open
windows. Nobody else in the row of houses has seen them.
Will the winter kill them off? Is there anything which can be done.
I've suggested they Google them but have not done so myself.
Help please?

Just leave them alone. Yes, they are an invasive species, and will
probably wipe out our native ladybirds in due course. BUT like our
native ladybirds they have a voracious appetite for pests like aphids
and scale insect., only even more effective due to their greater
numbers. They are here to stay now so accept them. They are not a threat
to your health, your plants or food crops. Oh, and they are pollinators too.

On Thu, 04 Nov 2010 21:59:47 +0000, Pam Moore
wrote:

Has anyone any first hand experience of harlequin ladybirds?
A friend of mine has asked me to ask you for help on behalf of a
friend of hers.
This lady lives on the end of a row of houses in Bradford on Avon.
She is beseiged by the things, even getting in her house through open
windows. Nobody else in the row of houses has seen them.
Will the winter kill them off? Is there anything which can be done.
I've suggested they Google them but have not done so myself.
Help please?

Pam in Bristol

I suppose it's evolution - one dominant species wiping out others as
has happened loads of times over the years. It's worth bearing in
mind, though, that Harlequins not only threaten the native ladybird
species but also butterflies and moths - they eat their eggs and
larvae. It was estimated in 2009 that Harlequins could threaten over
1000 native species in the UK - I think there are only between 40 and
50 native ladybird species!

You could visit http://www.harlequin-survey.org/ and record the
sightings there.

At this time of year they will look for somewhere warm to hibernate
and as heat escapes from a house through the smallest of gaps, they
will follow the heat trail to that small gap and in they come. On the
occasional dry day, we've got the windows open to air the house a bit
and we notice that they only come in through windows at the front of
the house (FWIW facing west) and often in large numbers; they never
come through windows on the sides or back. Don't know why but the
reason why your friend's friend is the only one affected in her row
may be similar.

That said, we don't kill them, just scoop (or shovel) them up and put
them back outside. Nothing we can do is going to stop their spread
(without doing even more damage) so it's a case of let nature take her
course.

Frank Booth Snr wrote:
Just leave them alone. Yes, they are an invasive species, and will
probably wipe out our native ladybirds in due course. BUT like our
native ladybirds they have a voracious appetite for pests like aphids
and scale insect.,

I didn't realise they ate scale insects!

On Thu, 04 Nov 2010 21:59:47 +0000, Pam Moore
wrote:

Has anyone any first hand experience of harlequin ladybirds?
A friend of mine has asked me to ask you for help on behalf of a
friend of hers.
This lady lives on the end of a row of houses in Bradford on Avon.
She is beseiged by the things, even getting in her house through open
windows. Nobody else in the row of houses has seen them.
Will the winter kill them off? Is there anything which can be done.
I've suggested they Google them but have not done so myself.
Help please?

Thanks to those who responded.
I omitted to say that the lady who has the problem with them says that
where they land in the house they leave stains. One landed on her
blouse and she could not wash out the mark. I've passed on the info.
Ta

Pam in Bristol

wrote:
Frank Booth wrote:
Just leave them alone. Yes, they are an invasive species, and will
probably wipe out our native ladybirds in due course. BUT like our
native ladybirds they have a voracious appetite for pests like aphids
and scale insect.,

I didn't realise they ate scale insects!

"It has been introduced into many countries as a biological control
agent against aphid and scale infestations in greenhouses, crops and
gardens. Populations have now established in north America, France,
Germany, Luxembourg, Belgium, Holland, Greece and Egypt. In France,
Belgium and Holland numbers are soaring annually."

http://www.cheshirewildlifetrust.co....s_ladybird.htm