This blog post was originally published on 28 June 2020, with Scymnus interruptus incorrectly identified as Scymnus suturalis. Thanks to Andrew Jewels for correcting my mistakes and alerting me to his great website on inconspicuous ladybirds: https://www.andrewjewels.com/ .

I have to admit that until the publication of the Field Guide to the Ladybirds of Great Britain and Ireland by Roy, Brown and Lewington (Bloomsbury 2018) I didn’t even know that such a thing as an inconspicuous ladybird existed.

Once I was aware of them, I was determined to find at least one. They are, as their name suggests, rather small and easily overlooked. One (Stethorus pusillus) is in fact so small that it has been called the Dot Ladybird. Inconspicuous ladybirds are also difficult to photograph especially if, like me, you only have a compact camera (so apologies for the quality of the images).

Inconspicuous ladybirds are shaped much like the larger or conspicuous ladybirds and have the same short antennae. Apart from size, the main difference is that most of them have a covering of short hairs making them appear quite dull rather than shiny to the naked eye. They are predatory, mostly feeding on aphids and scale insects.

Nephus quadrimaculatus – Four-spotted Nephus

The Field Guide is an excellent little book with superb illustrations by Richard Lewington and lots of helpful advice on how to find some of the more elusive or specialist species. I have discovered that most inconspicuous ladybirds have found me rather than the other way around, although now that I know that Nephus quadrimaculatus is in my local cemetery I have managed to find several with a bit of careful searching.

My first inconspicuous ladybird landed on the ground in front of me when I was watching and trying to catch Sphecodes bees in Earlham Cemetery. Luckily I had a specimen pot in my hand and was able to catch it and take home to identify (it was later returned). It turned out to be Nephus quadrimaculatus or Four-spotted Nephus if you prefer English names. It has a close association with ivy which provides a perfect place to shelter and also harbours its food – scale insects. On subsequent visits to the Cemetery, I have found several more, including a number of individuals on an ivy-covered gravestone.

Scymnus frontalis – Angle-spotted Scymnus

The next species I encountered was Scymnus frontalis (Angle-spotted Scymnus), a relatively common and widespread species. This was on the Isle of Wight on 18^th May 2019. Unfortunately for me, the individual appeared in a photograph I took of a spider and I was actually unaware of its presence so was unable to ‘tick’ it. Luckily I spotted one on a gravestone in Earlham Cemetery later in the year and have subsequently recorded it a number of times in the garden.

Rhyzobius litura – Pointed-keeled Rhyzobius

The next fortuitous find was in our garden waste bin in February 2020. Jeremy had brought home some Buddleia prunings from the allotment and a few Stinging Nettles that were growing in the wrong place. I regularly check inside the lid of the bin to see if anything needs rescuing (in the past, interesting spiders have been discovered in this way) and found a tiny orangey-brown beetle. At first I wasn’t sure if it was a ladybird as the body was more elongate than Nephus or Scymnus species and the antennae were longer. A closer look with the aid of a hand lens revealed fine hairs covering the elytra and pronotum and the pointed keel on the underside of the thorax that gives it the English name of Pointed-keeled Rhyzobius. This species is particularly common around patches of Stinging Nettles in spring but also other low vegetation. Rhyzobius litura, to give it its scientific name, is unusual in that its wings are poorly developed so that it can’t fly although it makes up for it by running away very rapidly when you try to photograph it.

Scymnus interruptus – Red-flanked Scymnus

Next up was Scymnus interruptus on 8^th April 2020. This one was particularly special as not only was it the first species to be found in our back garden, it was also the first record for Norfolk. Plenty of interesting species have turned up in the garden over the years so it was about time it yielded an inconspicuous ladybird. The garden proved a real boon during lockdown and I spent even more time than usual looking out for interesting invertebrates. I was intently watching foraging solitary bees when a tiny beetle suddenly appeared which I quickly potted in the specimen tube I had at hand. This was obviously a Scymnus but I couldn’t figure out which species. The black ‘T’ shape on the orangey elytra suggested Scymnus suturalis but this individual had a red head, not a black one. Photos were emailed to various beetle experts and the consensus was that it was a red-headed form of S. suturalis (which sometimes turns up on the continent). Unfortunately the beetle didn’t appreciate being kept in the fridge while we determined which species it was and sadly expired. This turned out to be rather fortuitous as when I first wrote about this species Andrew Jewels quickly spotted that it was in fact the pale form of Scymnus interruptus, a species we had discounted as its distribution is largely confined to south-east England. It now appears that it is spreading away from its heartland.

Confusingly, the normal colour-form looks rather similar to Scymnus frontalis. The definitive feature of interruptus in both colour forms is that the front edge of the underside of the elytra (the epipleuron) is reddish underneath. In frontalis this is black (also, there is a groove running down the centre of the metasternum in frontalis, a feature only shared with Scymnus schmidti). As I still had the beetle I was able to check the underside and see that the elytra edges were indeed reddish. In the meantime, I had also found a normal coloured specimen as well. Martin Collier, the beetle recorder for Norfolk, was eventually able to pay a visit and collect the specimen and confirm its identification as Scymnus interruptus. He also brought along his collecting gear and found two normal coloured specimens as well, all of which are now part of the Norfolk Beetle Collection. 

Rhyzobius litura again

On 1^st May 2020 I found Rhizobius litura in the garden on low vegetation in the flower border and have seen subsequent individuals. Perhaps it has been here for some time but has gone un-noticed while my attention has been focused elsewhere (on solitary bees probably!).

Scymnus haemorrhoidalis – Red-rumped Scymnus

The garden provided my next new species, Scymnus haemorrhoidalis (Red-rumped Scymnus). This was a very unexpected sighting as this species is usually found in damp habitats including bogs, damp grassland and water margins. It was found on the back of the house near a pot with Giant Horsetail growing in it. We often find unusual insects on the house quite possibly because it is painted yellow, a colour whose attractiveness to insects is exploited when it comes to pan traps.

Scymnus frontalis again…

After flirting with me outrageously on the Isle of Wight, Scymnus frontalis finally deigned to put in an appearance in the garden, bringing our garden list up to four. This is the commonest and largest Scymnus at a whopping 3.2mm long. On 14^th June one suddenly appeared on the bench at the back of the house, scurrying along and giving only a brief, blurred photo op. I have seen others since, always on the wall of the house and have been able to catch them and check the underside to confirm their identification. 

With twenty species of inconspicuous ladybird on the British list (only one of which hasn’t been recorded in Norfolk) I am hopeful of finding plenty more. There are a couple of reed-bed specialists that I would like to find at some point in the future. The Dot Ladybird is high on my list of species I would like to see, largely for name alone, along with what is perhaps the Holy Grail of the inconspicuous species – the Horseshoe Ladybird, Clitostethus arcuatus. Once public transport permits, I shall be out and about on the hunt but who knows what may turn up in the garden in the meantime!

Acknowledgements

Thanks to Martin Collier, the Norfolk Beetle Recorder, for coming to see my specimens and confirming their identity and to Andrew Jewels for correcting my mistakes and alerting me to his great website on inconspicuous ladybirds. He has amassed a great deal of information on these lovely little beetles and generously shared his knowledge and enthusiasm for them. See https://www.andrewjewels.com/ for detailed descriptions and comparisons of similar species 

Post Script: Stethorus pusillus – Dot Ladybird

On 17^th July, shortly after Martin Collier had departed, I happened to peer under the leaves of the Banana plant that grows in a pot outside my studio. A dark spot, about the size of a punctuation mark caught my eye. I rushed indoors, grabbed a pot and popped it in. Under the magnification of a hand lens I could see that it was a tiny black beetle with a covering of fine hairs and yellow legs and antennae. It was Stethorus pusillus, the Dot Ladybird!