How to find a ladybird: Try out the art of ‘beating’

Ladybird hunting requires a particular skill: the art of “beating”. It isn’t complicated; all you need is a shallow, wide container like a tray (an upturned umbrella will also do), which you hold under a tree or shrub, where these diminutive insects are often found. With your other hand gently tap the vegetation with a stick, which dislodges the ladybirds and they fall out, ready for you to examine.

This simple technique can lead to all kinds of discoveries. A few weeks ago, ecologist Brian Power used the beating technique to search for an elusive species, the striped ladybird, which had not been recorded in Wexford before. Brian was standing beside a line of ivy-clad native Scots pine on the Wexford side of the river Slaney. This species – a distinctive caramel brown colour with yellow patches – is devoted to Scots pine and is often found high up in the canopy, munching on aphids.

What fell into Brian’s tray was unexpected: a minuscule, hairy black creature, like a nugget of black tourmaline, with four reddish kidney-shaped spots, the front ones more considerable in size than those at the back. He immediately recognised it as the ivy ladybird, previously unknown here. This is the first time it has ever been recorded on the island of Ireland.

There’s a lack of historical data on ladybirds in Ireland, but enthusiasts such as Power are making up for lost time. In August 2020 he discovered another new species in Ireland, the epaulette “arboreal” ladybird, using the same beating technique under an exotic Monterey pine on the campus of UCC. This species has a long, hairy, auburn brown body with a distinctive stripe and was first seen in southern England in 1996 before quickly expanding northwards. It likes conifer, deciduous and pine trees and will most likely be found in urban areas where these trees grow. But it can be tricky to spot due to its small size and secretive nature.

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Some discoveries, however attractive, are less welcome. In 2011, Brian noticed an unusual ladybird on the leaves of pear trees in his garden near Kildavin in Carlow. He soon realised he’d found the first evidence of the Asian harlequin ladybird in the wild. A few years before, a female harlequin had been spotted inside a pack of British-grown sweet celery hearts in a supermarket in Lisburn.

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Orange, round and large, with 15-20 dark spots, the harlequin eats aphids galore, but it doesn’t stop there, unfortunately; it also gorges on the larvae of our native butterflies, moths and ladybirds, which is the last thing they need. Today, it’s found along eastern and southern Irish counties, with a few recorded in the midlands.

Scientists at the National Biodiversity Data Centre are happy to receive sightings of ladybirds, native or otherwise, and have initiated the “Ladybird Atlas 2025 Project” to fill in the knowledge gaps concerning the small beetles. In Northern Ireland, ladybird research has been spearheaded by Dr Roy Anderson, an agricultural chemist who spends his spare time studying and recording fungi, beetles and molluscs. There is still much to discover in the North, including the number of species, their preferred habitats (ladybirds have particular dietary requirements, with the orange ladybird, for instance, feeding specifically on mildew, a fungus that grows on plants) and – most crucially – how we can help to maintain their abundance and diversity.

Although diminutive and often hard to find, ladybirds are popular, and the public seems keen to engage in logging their sightings. A citizen science project run by Fota Wildlife Park and the Irish Research Council encouraged people to send in their sightings between April 2020 and June 2021; 924 records were submitted. Many of these were of the seven spot ladybird, but there were also recordings of other less-known species, such as the cream-spotted ladybird, which has a glossy appearance and is often found in gardens and woodlands, and the kidney-spot ladybird, which is dark in colour with two red spots and is frequently spotted in urban parks.

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About two-thirds of our population lives in urban areas, so, understandably, many records from this study came from cities. A big push is needed to get more data from rural Ireland. Several sightings included a photograph of a ladybird on a child’s arm, so primary schools might be the ideal place to encourage more kids nationwide to get involved.

Brian Power’s discovery of the ivy ladybird raises questions about whether it’s native. Could it have flown over from Britain, where its range recently expanded? Or, more likely, has it been undiscovered here all the time? At just 1.5mm, it’s a challenging one to find and would be easy to overlook.

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Winter is a good time to spot ladybirds, so dig out an old umbrella and see what you might find. Don’t forget local graveyards, which can throw up an array of ladybird species. They’re attracted to flowers as a source of aphids to eat, and to the warmth and shelter offered by the nooks and crannies in headstones and other stone monuments.

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