Herbie

22-spot Ladybird (Psyllobora 22-punctata)

While out exploring the garden during my lunch break the other day, I came across a few of these little beetles scurrying up and down grass stems near our raptor viewpoint. It's a 22-spot Ladybird (Psyllobora 22-punctata), one of Britain's more common ladybird species. The bright yellow colour is a warning to potential predators that this ladybird tastes nastily bitter, so had best be avoided. Its discrete spots, which never merge into each other, help to distinguish it from the larger 14-spot Ladybird (Propylea 14-punctata). Widespread across much of the British Isles (though scarce in the north), it's common in grassy places, including hedgerows, wood edges and roadsides — and pocket meadows. Like other ladybirds, it overwinters as a dormant adult, with eggs laid in early spring and new adults appearing in early summer. However, unlike most of its cousins, this one feeds on mildews rather than aphids, and is particularly fond of mildew on umbellifers. Given the amount of mildew growing on Common Hogweed plants scattered around the property, our little visitors should have plenty to nibble on for the remainder of the season.