Kidney Spot Ladybird

We saw this tiny ladybird on the sweetcorn this weekend. Lovely shiny black with two red spots.

You can see that it’s quite round with a rim around its wing casing.

They generally over-Winter at the base of deciduous trees, particularly ash - which is the tree that overhangs our plot, so it wasn’t too far off course.

I’ve recorded this ladybird on this blog before, see below, but updated the post because I managed to get better macro shots. It really is a tiny ladybird - about 5mm.

3rd April 2021

It’s always a pleasure to spot (sorry) a new ladybird on the allotment. This little beauty was in the polytunnel enjoying the warmth I’m sure.

I wasn’t sure whether it was a Pine, a Kidney Spot or a Harlequin so sought advice, through Twitter, from The Ladybird Survey. They confirmed it as a kidney spot ladybird (Chilocorus renipustulatus)

Ladybirds are generally welcome on the allotment as their larvae are good predators of aphids, though this particular bug prefers deciduous woodland and eats coccids (scale insects) so won’t find them on our plot, maybe go to a plot with fruit trees instead.