I found a bug on the way down to the school this morning.

Is it native to the UK? Or should I notify the council to get the tree sprayed.

Looks like a ladybird larvae to me

Ah, I wondered what those beasts were (though I don't remember having seen one before about 5 years ago, clearly I wasn't looking hard enough).

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1fmfzHLiGh4

Over 5,000 species of ladybird have been identified so far !

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coccinellidae

This one appears to be a Harlequin (Harmonia axyridis) and is not native -- though already too widespread for spraying to do any good.

Peter

Yeah the first UK sightings were only a few years ago but like so many introduced organisms it has spread like wildfire. Not really that harmful (yet) but plenty are.

If (as predicted) we get Emerald Ash Borer then the few ash trees that don't succumb to chalara will be killed off by the borer.

Certainly scary times for trees. I guess I'm at 10,000 plus planted now, be interesting to see what's still prospering in 20 yrs.

We call them ladybugs here, and the larvae look like that.
Good bugs to have.

Thanks Mark, I had no idea what these Brits were talking about

Though it was quite amusing to read all these posts with the mindset that you were all talking about the late first lady.

The issue with harlequin ladybirds here is that they'll outcompete our native species (I think they spend less time in hibernation amongst other things) and may have other as yet unknown effects on the ecosystem. Bit like grey squirrels which although they occupy the same niche as reds are bigger, and not so picky in terms of food, they cause huge damage to broadleaf trees by stripping bark.

Is that entirely accurate? I believe it depends on the species and the particular environment. The most common types of ladybugs (sorry, it's what I'm used to) appear to be carnivorous and eat smaller pests that damage flowers and gardens (like aphids). There's a local nursery that sells ladybugs by the thousands to gardeners, particularly people with rose bushes.

He was talking about the grey squirrels, not the ladybirds

Ah, that was a little unclear. And it doesn't really explain why the ladybugs are bad, though he does say there are unknown effects. I'm not discounting the opinion, just asking for reasons why they might be unwanted. I'm familiar with the grey squirrel issue over there, but I doubt that ladybugs are edging out cuter, more beloved bugs, so it doesn't seem completely analogous

I believe the accusation is that the newly arrived ladybirds are indeed edging out the existing 45 UK species of ladybirds. IIRC they have already done so elsewhere in Europe.