🐞✗ Tested and false“You can tell a ladybird's age by counting its spots”
Spot number and pattern are fixed features of a species, not a running tally that grows with age. Spot count and colour are the main way to tell one of Britain's ladybird species apart from another, for example seven spots on a red background for the seven spot ladybird, or four to fourteen black markings on yellow for the fourteen spot ladybird, with no suggestion that an individual gains spots over its lifetime.
Our read Most ladybirds live only around a year, so a rule that implied great age from a high spot count could not hold even in principle: a heavily spotted individual is simply a member of a heavily spotted species, not an elderly one.
What to do: Use spot count and colour to work out which of the UK's ladybird species you are looking at, not how old it is.
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- RHSDescribes UK ladybird species by their fixed spot count and colour pattern, for example seven black spots on red for the seven spot ladybird and four to fourteen markings on yellow for the fourteen spot ladybird, as a means of species identification.
“Ladybirds only eat aphids”
Most of the UK's ladybird species are aphid predators, but not all of them. Several species have different diets, including the orange ladybird and the twenty-two spot ladybird, which feed on mildews on a range of garden plants rather than insects, and species like the kidney spot ladybird, which preys on scale insects alongside aphids. There is also at least one vegetarian species, the bryony ladybird, which feeds on white bryony rather than any animal prey.
What to do: Do not assume every ladybird in the garden is there for aphids: mildew-feeding species such as the orange and twenty-two spot ladybird are worth encouraging on plants troubled by powdery mildew, as a form of free fungal control alongside aphid predation from other species.
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- RHSLists UK ladybird species by diet, noting the orange ladybird and twenty-two spot ladybird feed on mildews, the kidney spot ladybird preys on scale insects, and the bryony ladybird is vegetarian, feeding on white bryony.
“Harlequin ladybirds are wiping out native UK ladybirds”
The harlequin ladybird, established in Britain since 2004, is an aggressive predator that eats aphids, scale insects, and the eggs and larvae of other ladybirds, and is widely blamed for the scarcity of the two spot ladybird in particular. Buglife states plainly that harlequins out-compete native ladybirds for food and are thought to be the main reason for the two spot's decline. The RHS takes a more cautious line, stating that evidence in Britain so far is mixed, with some native species showing no decline where harlequins are present and others becoming less common, and that research is ongoing.
What to do: There is no recommended way to control harlequins in a garden, since methods that would harm them would also harm native ladybirds, so the practical response is to keep providing habitat for a range of native species (log piles, hollow stems, nettle patches) rather than trying to remove harlequins directly.
In Scotland: Harlequin ladybirds are already widespread across England and Wales but their distribution in Scotland is still increasing, with the invasion progressing from south to north, so gardeners in southern Scotland are more likely to encounter them than those further north for now.
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- RHSStates there was a fear harlequins would out-compete native aphid predators, but that evidence of actual decline in native ladybirds is mixed, with some species unaffected and others less common, and research ongoing; also states there is no recommended way to control harlequins since it would harm native ladybirds too.
- BuglifeStates harlequins can easily out-compete native ladybirds for food and are thought to be the main reason for the increasing scarcity of the two spot ladybird, and that their UK distribution is widespread in England and Wales and increasing in Scotland.
“Buying and releasing ladybirds from a shop or mail-order supplier is an effective way to control aphids in the garden”
Adult ladybirds released for aphid control tend to disperse and fly off, while it is the larvae that stay put where aphids are available, which undermines the point of releasing adults into an open garden. Species singled out as reliably effective, such as the mealybug ladybird, are recommended specifically for enclosed environments like a greenhouse, released in the evening to reduce the chance of adults escaping through vents, not for open beds and borders.
Our read Effectiveness is tied to a closed environment where predators cannot simply leave; nothing in the guidance supports releasing shop-bought ladybirds into an open garden as a reliable way to knock back an aphid problem.
What to do: Reserve bought-in ladybirds for enclosed spaces like a greenhouse or polytunnel, and rely on attracting and keeping wild ladybirds already present in an open garden through habitat (log piles, nettles, leaving some aphids as food) rather than expecting a shop-bought release to stay put outdoors.
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- RHSStates that adult ladybirds tend to disperse after release while larvae stay where placed if aphids are present, and recommends species such as the mealybug ladybird for use in enclosed glasshouse conditions with evening release to limit adults escaping.
“Ladybird larvae look nothing like adult ladybirds and gardeners often kill them thinking they're pests”
Ladybird larvae do not resemble the round spotted beetle most gardeners picture. They are elongated, up to 12mm long, greyish black with orange, red or white markings, and sometimes spiny, a shape closer to a small elongated grub than a beetle. Dedicated aphid predator guidance is built around teaching gardeners to recognise this larval form specifically so that it is not removed or treated as a pest.
Our read That larval identification is considered worth a dedicated section, alongside separate guidance not to use pesticides where avoidable, points to this being a real and recurring mix-up rather than a hypothetical one.
What to do: Learn to recognise the elongated, dark, orange-marked larval form before treating anything for pests in early summer, since a larva you remove is one less predator eating aphids for you.
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- RHSDescribes ladybird larvae as up to 12mm long, greyish black with orange-red or white markings and sometimes spiny, and frames correct identification of this larval form as key to protecting them as natural aphid predators.
- University of Maryland ExtensionDescribes ladybird beetle larvae as flattened, tapered and 'alligator-like', dark with orange or yellow markings, a form dramatically different from the adult beetle.
“Tidying up the garden in autumn (clearing leaf litter, cutting back stems, removing log piles) harms ladybirds by destroying where they overwinter”
Ladybirds need sheltered sites to survive winter, and different species use different shelter. The Wildlife Trusts note that the seven spot ladybird hibernates in hollow plant stems, sometimes in large clustered groups, while the orange ladybird hibernates in leaf litter or other sheltered spots, and the RHS confirms generally that adult ladybirds need sheltered sites for overwintering, often in groups, which can include gaps in bark, log piles and buildings as well as leaf litter and dead stems.
What to do: Leave some seed heads, hollow stems, leaf litter and a log pile undisturbed over autumn and winter rather than cutting everything back and clearing it away, and delay a full tidy-up until growth resumes in spring.
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- The Wildlife TrustsStates that adult seven spot ladybirds hibernate in hollow plant stems, sometimes clustering together in large groups over winter.
- RHSStates that adult ladybirds need sheltered sites for overwintering, and describes them as grey or black larvae with orange or white markings as a separate identification note.
