An Aggregation of Harlequin Ladybirds - 13 October 2025

_{Aggregation of ladybirds on the door hinge.}

When I saw the sight in the photo above I was really impressed by the variety of ladybirds : different shades or orange, different numbers of spots and so on. For some reason all these ladybirds decided that the best place to congregate was by the door hinge.

Outside there were ladybirds flying around on the windows, walls : all over the place, so you needed to check the floor to make sure you weren't treading on them :

_{Apologies for the lack of focus. I didn’t bend down to get a better look.}

As I’d seen a number of ladybirds around the house and found that a bit odd, I went online to try and find answers. By chance there was an article on the BBC about this phenomenon. You can read the full article here.

The article mentions these are all Harlequin Ladybirds, or Harmonia Axyridis. I was surprised that there were different colour combinations and spot numbers for this type of non-native species of ladybird. You can read a whole article here about Harlequin Ladybirds about how they were initially brought to help control aphids; they escaped, settled and now compete against the native species.

I know that ladybirds eat aphids and are therefore ‘friendly’ so I don’t mind them but it was a bit strange to see so many of them. The main point about this article is that it’s a weather related issue : after a cold spell in September they decided to find safe wintering places. The article puts is all very clearly :

Like many insects, ladybirds enter a state of inactivity over winter known as diapause – an insect version of hibernation.

At least this explained it all but I was still concerned about the ladybirds on the door, I hope they don’t get squashed over time.

Another issue that concerned me is what happens to these insects when they are in diapause. I took the photo below in another part of the house where I found this sight :

I wonder whether that sort of house spider will just eat them or whether the colour of the ladybirds will warn it off.

Thanks for reading !