The face of the alien aphid muncher

This Harlequin ladybird happily eating an aphid on the 6th of November illustrates how active many of these ladybirds still are. I found young and old larvae, pupae, mating adults and also dormant adults in a small area near in my local park. Harlequins are multivoltine, and will carry on reproducing as far as conditions are suitable. In northern Europe, two generations and possibly three if weather conditions allow can occur, as adults do not need to enter dormancy before they can reproduce, as it is the case with the 7 spot ladybird.

Ready for winter

Only a couple of weeks ago, 7 spot ladybirds were mating. Today we found this little cluster, with a harlequin trying to merge in, nestled on a wall, ready for winter. More BugBlog ladybird posts here.

Mating 7 spots on 9/10/11.

Why do ladybirds overwinter in groups?

You have probably come across ladybirds clustered under leaves or bark during winter. To spend the winter, seven spot ladybirds - otherwise solitary creatures -   they seem to actively seek each other. I took the photo above a few minutes ago in my garden. I counted 16 ladybirds - most were 7-spots, with two Harlequins - on the shady side of an agave killed by this winters' harsh frosts. Before I go on to explain this communal overwintering behaviour I have to explain why ladybirds are so colourful. Ladybirds are aposematic, a term describing an antipredator adaptation by which organisms have evolved bright, contrasting colours (think on the yellow and black stripes in cinnabar moth caterpillar or wasps) to warn predators of dangerous behaviour (stinging) or distastefulness. Ladybirds belong to this later group. Their beautiful glossy red and yellow elithra with black spots is the first line in a complex defence system, a warning signal to predators, probably birds, of their foul taste. Their bodies contain a bitter tasting alkaloid. If the predator ignores the warning signal and attacks the ladybird - or if you handle them a bit roughly - they release a yellow liquid from their leg joints, with high concentrations of the alkaloid, coccinelline, in what is called "reflex bleeding".
  Given that ladybirds can secrete up to almost a quarter of their body weight during the reflex bleeding, it is an energetically demanding defence mechanism. During the winter, when ladybirds do not feed and need to save precious resources, they do not reflex bleed, although they still taste bitter. It is because of this that they cluster together: as other distasteful prey that lack a mechanism to let know of their foul taste to a potential predator, clustering allows individuals with warning coloration in a group - even if they are unrelated - to benefit from just one of them being injured or killed by a predator, as the predator is unlikely to attack further ones in the cluster.

Reference
Holloway, G., Jong, P., Brakefield, P. & Vos, H. (1991). Chemical defence in ladybird beetles (Coccinellidae). I. Distribution of coccinelline and individual variation in defence in 7-spot ladybirds (Coccinella septempunctata) Chemoecology, 2 (1), 7-14 DOI: 10.1007/BF01240660

Sleeping Snails

A sunny day like a jewel in a dull, cold winter. For the first time in months I venture out to do some gardening. There are little signs of bug activity. A few 7-spot ladybirds sunbathing; a cloud of winter gnats; a bluebottle which rapidly gets into the house through the back door...I moved an old tile left leaning against a south-facing wall and found a gathering of overwintering snails stuck to the tile and the wall. A few small ones, but mostly of them grown up snails, shell against shell. In this spot they keep relatively warm and dry during the winter. The snail secretes a specially tough mucus to seal its shell opening which can glue it to walls, or other snails.

A dormant snail operculum.

More on Garden Snails at BugBlog:

Darts for love on the strange mating tactics of your garden Snails.