Barbed Beastie

A long and rather frustrating day in the office dealing with a litany of software development issues. A welcome distraction occurred in the afternoon when one of my colleagues came across this bug wandering about her desk. It makes a change from finding bugs in my software to come across a real one. Much more exciting! I took it from her and let it wander about my hand for a while, taking a few pictures. If I was aware of what it looked liked under the macro lens I may have had second thoughts!

Postscript: A quick google has revealed this beautiful little critter to be a ladybird larvae. This is an immature Harlequin or Multicolured Asian Labybird (Harmonia axyridis), an invasive species which is now prospering in the UK. The first record of one being found here was only 7 years ago, and they seem to be on the march northwards. Not sure if they have reached Scotland yet, but watch out!