Ladybirds

THE DUBLIN LADYBIRD PROJECT

PROJECT OUTLINE

Beetles are a vast group of insects which are found throughout the world and the Dublin and Irish ladybirds are but a very small section. Most of us will recognise the conspicuous 7-spot ladybird but more than twenty other ladybird species have been reported from Ireland and may be found in gardens, parks and the wider countryside.

However, we know relatively little about the natural history of both lrish and Dublin ladybirds and effects of climate and habitat change on native ladybird species and on immigrant ladybirds.

So this project has the aims of:

  • Studying the natural history of ladybirds of County Dublin and its neighbouring counties of Kildare, Meath and Wicklow.
  • Finding out and identifying which ladybirds, including the invasive harlequin, occur in the region.
  • Gathering information on how common or frequent each ladybird species is.
  • Studying the behaviour and ecology of these ladybirds.
  • Establish where and when each ladybird species spends its life at the adult, egg, larval and pupal stages.
  • Providing information on feeding patterns, hibernation and emergence timing.
  • Gathering information on their preferred prey or food sources.

Records and supporting photographs are most welcome from members of the general public, and may be submitted online, by email or by post.

A key to the more common species is available on one of the fly out menus and the galleries contain photographs which may be helpful to you to ID the species. We have also listed some of the available publications or websites that we consider useful for ID purposes. There are a small number of ladybirds which occur in Britain and are not known to be resident in Ireland. A copy of the Field Studies Council Ladybird Guide may be ordered from our Publications Page.

The Dublin Naturalists’ Field Club’s Records Policy
Ladybird Records submitted to the Dublin Naturalists’ Field Club remain the property of the record creator and data received will be used for this project only and will not be passed on to a third person or organisation. You may down load a copy of our policy in pdf format here.