I thought I might photograph a Daffodil today and went looking around the garden for a suitable flower. As it was very windy I thought I would use one of the ones blown over by the wind and pick it and move it to a more sheltered spot. I found this little guy inside one of the Daffodils and decided to use him instead. Could not get a decent shot of him inside the flower, as he kept trying to get right down inside it, hence all the yellow pollen.
He might look pretty but he is what has been called the most invasive Ladybird on Earth, they are from Asia, but were introduced to the USA in 1988, it is now the most common species there. It is wide spread in Europe and reached the UK in 2004, it can decimate native species. We call it the Harlequin Ladybird ( Harmonia axyridis), but it has many other names around the world. It also has many different colour variants.
Maybe view him large if you have the time.
My other album has a reason to make you want to go to Scotland.
Yes, this little guy is quite powdered up. He has a lot more black than the ones I've been seeing around here the last few years. Mine look more like your yesterday shot. Love the detail you've picked up in the stem he is sitting on too.
Fabulous capture of this little guy (lady...lol). Love the pollen on it. I didn't know there was a bad ladybird anywhere. Aphid eaters can't be bad...can they?
@obmcreations Thank you very much OBM, Bad Ladybird mmm, the problem with this one is that it an alien species, it is very aggressive, its eats up the aphids. All of them, and then starts on anything else it can find, including the Ladybirds that should be there. They are not used to the extra competition and their numbers really suffer. Add in the factor that these Asian ones have no natural predators and their numbers can grow to plague proportions.
They also carry a very potent chemical to deter attack from birds and I believe areas in the USA that grow grapes are finding that even very low numbers of these can taint the wine made from the grapes.
So maybe there is a Bad Ladybird and it should be told to fly away home.
@markp That's very interesting, thanks Mark. We very rarely see a black one here, but I am guessing it is not the same species as it's not a problem in NZ (or there is some other mitigating factor).
March 24th, 2014
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@anazad511 Thank you very much for the comment Ana
They also carry a very potent chemical to deter attack from birds and I believe areas in the USA that grow grapes are finding that even very low numbers of these can taint the wine made from the grapes.
So maybe there is a Bad Ladybird and it should be told to fly away home.