Ladybird invasion

With the most recent storm bringing harsh winds and torrential downpours my bee garden has now well and truly been decimated, reduced to a few withered and wind battered sticks! Ah well, better luck next year!

A few months ago however it was quite the miniature jungle and during a particularly sunny spell in June, the garden was suddenly swarming with an abundance of ladybirds, crawling along the trellis and among the greenery.

All of the ladybirds found appeared to be 7 spot ladybirds, one of the most familiar and common of the 40 species found in the UK. All have 7 red spots on their red wing cases, and white patches behind their eyes.

Despite their rather cute and lumbering appearance, the ladybird is actually a highly effective predator of garden pests, and in particular aphids. Ladybirds should be welcoming into gardens as a natural alternative to pesticides.

Perhaps it was aphids, a ladybirds’ favourite food source that had attracted the insects to the bee garden?  Whatever the reason, as suddenly as they appeared, the ladybirds were gone!

This brief abundance of life did provide a great opportunity to capture these insects with the 105mm macro lens and achieve some rather charming results.

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All photographs copyright of Claire Stott/Grey Feather Photography © 2020
www.greyfeatherphotography.com

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