What is this little critter (see photo)? Where does it come from, what does it turn into and what was it doing pottering around my roses?
鈥� The insect in the photo is a larva of the , Coccinella septempunctata. This species is common throughout Europe and a native in the UK. Given enough time, food and suitable conditions, it will pupate into a ladybird, or ladybug. It lays its eggs in clutches and deposits them on the underside of leaves.
The fact that it was pottering about the roses is good news for your garden 鈥� the species eats aphids, and larvae are particularly voracious. Think of them as a form of natural pest control. Aphids can drain a plant鈥檚 resources and are exceptional virus vectors.
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There are fears that the seven-spot, along with other of the UK鈥檚 native species, is being outcompeted by the invasive , Harmonia axyridis. You can encourage populations of natives by avoiding pesticides and being careful not to damage or remove eggs when you prune your plants.
For more information, see the UK Ladybird Survey website at .
Jennifer Zanin, Imperial College London, UK
鈥� As a gardener with roses to care for, your questioner should be pleased to see this ladybird larva. There鈥檚 nothing it likes better than munching on herds of aphids.
鈥淭here is nothing this larva likes better than munching through a herd of aphids in your garden鈥�
Seeing this photo sent me back to my childhood in the 1960s. My mother would get us to collect these grubs from hedgerows so we could distribute them among our roses and runner beans 鈥� an early form of pest control. The neighbours thought we were strange, but we always had the brightest blooms and best beans.
Active in daylight, both beetle and larva advertise themselves as unpleasant to eat; the ladybird through its black and red colouring, the offspring with its yellow spots. But they are not immune to the attention of ants, who herd aphids for honeydew. You will often see ants protecting their aphid charges from ladybird attack.
Kelvin Boot, Exeter, Devon, UK