The Ladybirds are gathering…

As well as being a working cemetery, Jesmond Old Cemetery is also an integral component in the City’s wildlife corridor and hosts an abundance of insects, birds, flowers and trees. Of particular interest at this time of year is the lovely Ladybird and our friend from the Natural History Society of Northumbria, James Common, has described JOC as the Ladybird capital of the north!! As well as having James helping us with identification of our Ladybirds, we also have the input of Chris Wren, who is a keen photographer, and he has provided us with the following images and text, describing the various Ladybirds he has come across in JOC so far this year.

The above image shows two Harlequin Ladybirds (large and red with black spots), three Cream-spot Ladybird (brown with white spots), one 10-spot Ladybird (orange/red at the back) and one Pine Ladybird (small and black, with red spots).

The above image shows three Harlequin Ladybirds, one Cream-spot (top left) and one Orange Ladybird.

The image above shows all Harlequin Ladybirds, with several of each of the commonest colour forms.

This final image shows SIX species in one view…. they are: Orange Ladybird, 2-spot Ladybird (in two different colour forms), Cream-spot Ladybird, Harlequin Ladybird (in three different colour forms), 10-spot Ladybird and the Pine Ladybird.

So….. you have a photo guide and names….why not get yourself to JOC and see if you can spot any. For further help with identification, have a look here on the Natural History Society of Northumbria’s website.

If you want to see more fantastic images from Chris, check out his work here and here.