Mr and Mrs Ladybird

There have been hundreds of ladybirds in my house and garden for several weeks now. I don't know why. I presume there must be a newly hatched nest of them somewhere (do ladybirds have nests?!)

Anyway, the cats and I love to watch them. Dotsy and Laurie are fascinated by them - they watch for a while, then give them a good sniff, but then leave them alone. Clearly not worth slaughtering, thank goodness, unlike the local rodent, spider, ant and bird population.

These two don't look quite real to me, but they flew off soon after the photo, so I guess they must be real. They have the same markings, so I wondered if they were twins rather than Mr and Mrs. Who knows...