The collective name for ladybirds is a loveliness - can you find one?

The familiar red and black spotted ladybird is one insect everyone can recognise. "Ladybird" beetles belong to the family Coccinellidae (from the Latin word coccineus meaning 'scarlet') but there are 46 species of British ladybirds and many of them don't have bright colours - or spots. Recently, several new species of these charming, tiny, "cryptic" ladybirds have been discovered in Leicestershire by NatureSpot members. These records come from lightly beating the foliage of evergreens such as Holly, Ivy or conifers over a tray or an empty ice cream tub. The most important thing to realise is that these species are so much smaller than the more familiar red and black species (a hand lens is helpful). The rediscovery of the Horseshoe Ladybird, Clitostethus arcuatus, was only the second record for VC55, the previous one was by Thomas Vernan Wollaston in August 1872! The Four-spotted Nephus, Nephus quadrimaculatus, was unknown in VC55 a couple of weeks ago, but our evidence now suggests that it may be more common than previously believed as more specimens are starting to turn up. This gives us two possibilities - either they are becoming more common in our area (likely), or people just weren't looking for them previously. So your NatureSpot Lockdown Challenge this week is to search your local evergreens and look for cryptic ladybirds. If you find specimens you're not sure of, let us know and we'll help you with the I.D. (we may need to see the original specimen). 

Read more: How Not To Be Spotted