24 spot ladybird
I know I blipped this little beauty last year, but I have decided that I will try to find as many British ladybirds to blip as I can this year, so I have re-blipped it this year (and it is a much better shot!).
I found this little beauty, along with 3 others in the downland grass yesterday, of course the minute I touched them they all dropped off the leaf, and onto the ground. luckily for me, this one landed on a nettle leaf, (which I was able to pick very carefully!) and I was able to get a few shots before he made off.
The 24-spot ladybird (Subcoccinella 24-punctata) is tiny at 3-4mm, russet in colour with black spots. The wing cases are covered in fine hairs, which are just about visible in this picture, interestingly, it is usually wingless with no wings under the elytra, and unable to fly. Although 40% of the population from Hungary and Romania have wings.
In the UK is is more common in the south.
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