Harringay, Haringey - So Good they Spelt it Twice!
Harlequin ladybirds...
...are they a pest? Should we squidge 'em on sight? Is there a foolproof way to spot the difference between native ladybirds and harlequins?
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Mr Growbag on
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They're a pest insofar as they out-compete and sometimes even eat the native varieties. However, advice from the Harlequin Ladybird Survey is not to go all vigilante. There's absolutely no way of eradicating them from the UK, and they're already fully established in the South East. They do serve the same garden purpose as the native species (aphid eating), so squishing them will not help your blackfly... (they were originally sold in the EU as a ecological pest control method, I believe, which is how they got here in the first place).
If it's any consolation, I have spotted at least 6 different native species of ladybird in the garden this year already, so there are obviously enough aphids to go round at present...
There's some good ID stuff on the survey site, but generally they're a bit bigger than native species.
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