Bug Off!!

I had my lunch outside in the sun today, only to find that I was not alone.

The tansy is teeming with aphids and as a result, ladybirds too. Feasting.

I could identify at least a dozen different species, but since there are over 5000 species worldwide, that's not that many.

Now for the science Coccinellidae is a family of beetles, known variously as ladybirds (UK, Ireland, Australia, Pakistan, South Africa, New Zealand, India, Malta, parts of Canada), or ladybugs (North America). Scientists increasingly prefer the names ladybird beetles or lady beetles, as these insects are neither birds nor bugs. Lesser-used names include ladyclock, lady cow, and lady fly.

Coccinellids are small insects, ranging from 1 mm to 10 mm (0.04 to 0.4 inches), and are commonly yellow, orange, or scarlet with small black spots on their wing covers, with black legs, head and antennae. A very large number of coccinellid species are mostly, or entirely, black, grey, or brown

Along with this little chap, there were some fabulous harlequin ladybirds, a lovely kidney spot ladybird and a huge and voracious larvae - but I've decided not to blip him because wild one beat me to it.

Sorry to my FB friends who have to suffer all of the other ladybirds pics that were very near blips today. I hope to return to theme tomorrow but they were an opportunity too good to miss