New map reveals native ladybirds in decline

Some of the country's most widespread ladybird species have suffered significant declines in the past two decades, the first atlas of the well-loved bug has revealed.

The new publication, produced by the Centre for Ecology and Hydrology, maps all 47 ladybird species in Britain and Ireland, and reveals that in the UK ten species have been decreasing in the past 20 years.

They include the widespread 14-spot and ten-spot ladybirds, as well as rarer species such as the hieroglyphic ladybird.

And, since the arrival in the UK in 2004 of the invasive Asian harlequin ladybird, which came from the continent where it was used to control pests, the two-spot has also been in decline. Harlequins prey on the larvae of other, smaller species such as the two-spot.