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Attracting ladybirds to your garden is a good way to keep the numbers of aphids down. To encourage them to take up residence in your garden, it is important to provide a good hibernation area. Bamboo canes laid on their side and tied in small bunches will provide a good place for ladybirds to hibernate in, as will corners of greenhouses and sheds. Do not disturb groups of hibernating ladybirds. Once they come awake in spring and start to lay eggs, their larvae will devour aphids in your garden and then the adults will breed there too, so increasing numbers further. Native ladybirds in the UK need all the help they can get at the moment because there is a threat on the horizon which is more devastating than pesticides or human influence.

Ladybugs or ladybirds if you are in the UK are an asset to any garden but beware - there is now a threat to their existence. It comes in the form of the Harlequin Ladybird. These are larger, garishly coloured and hardier then other ladybirds.
Normally, they preform much the same task as ladybirds - eating aphids and generally performing a useful job in the garden but Harlequins have another adaptation which has helped them proliferate and spread quickly, which other ladybirds do not have.
If their natural food supply runs short they will eat other ladybirds. They are also able to withstand lower temperatures than other ladybirds which means they are active later into the autumn and hibernate later.
Normal ladybirds hibernate in nooks and crannies in large numbers - often 10-20 in a group, so, when aphids become short, what is better for a Harlequin than to come across a hibernating bunch of ladybirds?
Until recently, the Harlequin was a relatively rare visitor to the UK making their impact negligible but recently, due to warmer autumns and continental breezes, vast numbers of these have been arriving in summer and staying awake far later than our native species. They are now having a devastating impact on UK native ladybirds and the 5 and 7 spotted in particular are suffering a reduction in numbers.
What can be done? Well, unless you are up to squishing every Harlequin you see, not a lot. Some native ladybirds will survive in areas the Harlequins do not do so well such as pine groves but otherwise it looks as if the Harlequin is here to stay at the expense of native species.

Learn more about this author, Sammy Stein.
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