The Invader

Although there are over 4,000 species of beetles here in the UK, I seem to be blipping ladybirds just at the moment, so here is another species to add to the collection. 

This one is the harlequin ladybird, Harmonia axyridis.  The harlequin is not a native species here in the UK, originally being from Asia, but having established itself on almost every continent it is very much the most invasive species of ladybird.  It was first noted to have arrived here in 2004 and is nowadays readily found in England and Wales.  There is some evidence that there is a link in the decline of native species and the arrival of the harlequin although with all the other threats to insect life that now exist, it is hard to establish that link definitively.