One of the most welcome animals in the garden, often sporting striking colours. A welcome aphid predator. There are 42 species in Britain and Ireland including migratory species and 2 species that may now be extinct. Although most people are familiar with the red ladybird with black spots, there are many other colours. Other colours which are decorated with black spots include yellow, brown, orange, buff and beige. There are also brown, maroon and orange ladybirds with white or cream spots, black ladybirds with red spots, and chestnut ladybirds with creamy-yellow spots and stripes. The number of spots on spotted ladybirds varies from the 2 spot ladybird (Adalia 2-punctata) to the 24 spot ladybird (Subcoccinella 24-punctata).

A major concern is the loss or alteration of habitats such as wetlands, e.g. through drainage, filling and pollution; grassland and wild flower meadows, e.g. through the use of fertilisers; woodland and hedgerows, e.g. through felling; coastal areas, e.g. through development; and river shingle and banks, e.g. through alteration of river courses, flood defenses, dredging and damming. The removal of ivy from trees and buildings destroys winter hibernation sites for some species. The use of pesticides on farmland and in the garden is also harmful. River banks are being choked by a rapidly spreading introduced plant called Himalayan balsam.

The Harlequin ladybird (Harmonia axyridis), a native of Asia, is at large in England. It is sometimes used as a biological control for aphids. However, it is such a varocious consumer of aphids, there are concerns that it could leave native ladybirds with nothing to eat. It also eats other ladybirds, lacewing larvae and butterfly eggs.

There are many things that can be done in the garden to help ladybirds. Avoid using pesticides and leave aphids where possible to attract ladybirds. Stinging nettles and yarrow are excellent ladybird plants. Pampas grass (Cortaderia selloana) and Leyland cyprus conifers (x Cupressocyparis leylandii) are also useful for shelter and buddleia provides nectar. Scots pine and gorse are very important for shelter for many species. More plants are mentioned under 'feeding'.

Pruning needs to be done carefully to avoid cutting off vegetation which contains eggs, larvae, pupae, or adults of the less conspicuous species. Leave the pruning of perennials until the spring so that ladybirds can shelter in leaf rosettes for the winter. Try not to disturb low growing and ground cover vegetation in winter where ladybirds might be sheltering.

Ladybird lodges are excellent for providing insulated, dry shelter in bad weather and for overwintering.

Ladybirds found trapped indoors should be carefully put outside. This is necessary even in winter unless the room is very cool and has easy access to the outside. If there is group then it is likely there is easy access even if it is not an obvious route known to you! However, they could have entered through an open door, window or vent which has subsequently been closed. Keep the ladybird in a matchbox and release it during a warm part of the day. Don’t thow it or handle it roughly as this will cause alarm and reflex bleeding which will waste vital energy reserves. If you can release it into a proven overwintering site so much the better.

The larvae feed on aphids. Many species are carnivorous, eating aphids such as greenfly, coccids (scale insects), adelgids and mites. Carnivorous species may eat over 5000 aphids in a lifetime. Some species eat nectar, pollen, mildew and other fungi, honeydew, sap or resin. The 24 spot ladybird feeds on plants such as vetches, trefoils, campions, chickweed, plantains and clovers. When favourite foods are unavailable ladybirds turn their attention to hoverflies, moths, worms, spiders, dead flies in spider webs, adult craneflies, shield bugs, nymph and adult frog-hoppers and small beetles. Foods essential to one species may be toxic to another. The mealy plum aphid (Hyalopterus pruni Geoffroy) is essential to the 7 spot ladybird (Coccinella 7-punctata) but toxic to the 2 spot.

Ladybirds start life as eggs, generally in groups of 2 to 100. These are off-white, yellow or orange and hatch into larvae. After a number of moults the larvae pupate and over the following 4 days to 12 weeks they undergo the major transformation into the adult we all recognise.

Most species of ladybird are inactive from September or October until February or May depending on the species and the weather. This is mostly due to the lack of food. Overwintering sites vary according to the species. Some species overwinter on their own, others in small groups of three or so, whilst other species gather in huge clusters of hundreds or even thousands.

Ladybirds are occasionally eaten by larger animals such as birds. Cattle probably eat many inadvertently when grazing. Some ladybirds get tangled in spider webs and some invertebrates such as lesser stag beetles, ground beetles, soldier beetles, devil’s coach horse, earwigs, wasps, bugs, hoverflies and lacewings will eat ladybirds in various parts of their lifecycle as part of a wide-ranging diet.

Ladybirds have several defense mechanisms. The bright, memorable colours of the elytra warn potential predators that they will find them distasteful, foul smelling and sometimes poisonous. Some species are able to ‘reflex bleed’, that is, if handled, they exude staining and foul tasting fluid from the joints in their legs or from abdominal segments.

‘Safety in numbers’ is another defense strategy. Many species, such as the 2 spot and 16 spot (Micraspis 16-punctata) gather in huge numbers, sometimes thousands. If a predator tries to eat one and finds it distasteful the rest of the group will be left alone.

The main natural cause of death amongst ladybirds is being parasitised by another organism such as the larvae of flies (Diptera) and parasitic wasps e.g. Dinocampus coccinellae, mites (Acarina), roundworms (Nematoda), fungi (genus Beauveria), protozoa (family Gregarinidae) and bacteria (genus Rickettsia), variously in the egg, larval, pupal or adult stage of the ladybird’s lifecycle.

Variable depending on the species. Two species may now be extinct whilst others are very common and widespread. All are under environmental pressures.

Ladybirds are valued positively in children's books and we grow up to love them. Other, less glamorous, beetles are given a very different, often negative, treatment as 'creepy crawlies', and are feared or disliked. This demonstrates the power of culture and education in shaping the way people think about, and treat, wildlife and the importance of building an appreciation and respect for all wildlife, 'beautiful' or 'ugly', 'rare' or 'common' from a very young age.

As an old barn in Kent was being demolished in 1992 a massive aggregation of ladybirds estimated at between a quarter and a half a million was found!

In other parts of the world you might come across metallic turquoise, blue and orange or bright pink ladybirds!

The 7 spot, pine (Exochomus 4-pustulatus) and water ladybird (Anisosticta 19-punctata) can survive in ice, even in blocks of ice from which they emerge unscathed when the ice melts!

Patches of nettles are great places to (carefully!) observe ladybirds in their various stages. Look wherever there are aphid colonies. Roadside vegetation and wastelands often have the dry conditions that are attracted to aphids.

Look but don't touch! It is unnecessary to handle ladybirds and they can nip as well as reflex bleed on you if frightened. A magnifying glass and camera with 'macro' close-up facility is better for both of you.