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Harlequin Ladybirds

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    Harlequin Ladybirds

    Has anyone else encountered this thoroughly unpleasant species?

    About 6 weeks ago we moved into our new flat, one day I was in the bathroom and on opening a cupboard one of these little b*stards divebombed straight into my face.

    "Oh a ladybird how sweet!" I thought and left it alone to get on with it's life.

    A few days later we noticed 2 of them on the bedroom ceiling - "odd" we thought. Since then we've seen more and more of them until the other day I counted about 18 of them around the windows...

    On clioser inspection they turned out not to be your nice British red ladybird but an asian variant with:

    the potential to affect over 1000 of our native species. "In the United States, where the harlequin arrived over 20 years ago, it has been associated with severe declines in native species, "
    The harlequin, native to Asia, was introduced to North America and continental Europe as a biological control agent because it eats more pest insects than any other ladybirds. Unfortunately, harlequins will also eat non-pest and beneficial insects, including the larvae of other ladybirds and the eggs and larva of butterflies and moths. Britain's 45 species of native ladybird and these other insects play a key role in our ecosystem, but the harlequin has the potential to jeopardise many of them.
    Harlequin Ladybird: Unravelling the story of an alien invader

    They are like locusts and swarm in the same way. They hibernate in people's homes and when you put the central heating on they think it's time to come out. Anyway - we've got them and although not in the same numbers that some have reported (thousands of them inside your home) their numbers are growing.....

    They swarm, divebomb into you and (apparently) bite. Oh and if you disturb/startle/squash them they excrete a disgusting smelly substance that attracts more of them - nice!

    This is what they look like if you get an infestation:



    Time to call the exterminators - although the problem is they come into your home from the outside if they decide they 'like' your home...

    Any suggestions/experiences/witty comments welcome!
    "Is someone you don't like allowed to say something you don't like? If that is the case then we have free speech."- Elon Musk

    #2
    Yuck.

    Move?
    "You’re just a bad memory who doesn’t know when to go away" JR

    Comment


      #3
      I live oop north. Everything foreign has left or it dead from the cold.

      Comment


        #4
        Originally posted by SueEllen View Post
        Yuck.

        Move?
        Just moved in!

        Mrs Jog refuses to have the heating on now because that's what brings them out...
        "Is someone you don't like allowed to say something you don't like? If that is the case then we have free speech."- Elon Musk

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          #5
          I clicked on this thread expecting 'Harlequin Ladybirds' to be some kind of Exotic Female Dance Troupe and instead it's about ******* insects

          Shame on you !!

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            #6
            I misread the title as Harlequin Ladyboys.

            Phew.

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              #7
              What about writing a letter to the Daily Wail, saying illegal immigrants are invading your home ?
              Doing the needful since 1827

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                #8
                Originally posted by Jog On View Post
                Just moved in!

                Mrs Jog refuses to have the heating on now because that's what brings them out...
                Hire a cleaner. Your house is obviously dirty and needs cleaning.

                You filthy bugger.
                What happens in General, stays in General.
                You know what they say about assumptions!

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                  #9
                  Originally posted by Jog On View Post

                  Any suggestions/experiences/witty comments welcome!
                  Who painted your walls?

                  Re the ladybirds: I think I reported on them here before, but have no idea what I said now, and it could well have been witty.

                  Comment


                    #10
                    Originally posted by Doggy Styles View Post
                    I misread the title as Harlequin Ladyboys.

                    Phew.
                    I thought it was the Harlequin Globetrotters, until I discovered there was no such thing.

                    Comment

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