20 April, 2024
Adalia decempunctata (10-spot Ladybird)
Dave Barnett spotted this pretty ladybird on an Acer palmatum leaf in his garden and managed to photograph it. It is Adalia decempunctata (10-spot Ladybird) which has three colour forms, this being the ‘chequered’ form (f. decempustulatus). It had Dave totally baffled for some time as it is typically depicted with red elytra (wing cases) and black spots.
This form has black elytra and yellow spots. Dave confessed that he resorted to PictureThis app to identify it from the photo, then checked in the literature.
On iRecord there are 10,000 recordings of this species with 301 from Worcestershire, so not a rarity but showing a vast range of colour and pattern variations.
Dave Barnett – 20 April 2024.
Scarce 7-spot ladybird with company.
Photograph by – Brett Westwood
Scarce 7spot Ladybird alone.
Photograph by – Brett Westwood