Orange ladybird Halyzia 16-guttata in Hyndland

1 Pages·2002·0.72 MB·

by  Norman R Grist

platypTh.yllos corTd.ata eurTo.xp.aea P(onrowme’Cosmummomne.rSwiinftsGl’)aAspguoswabpeugsinasrriwvhe.enMyswififrtsst
Glasgow 134 1 225 sightingsthisyear(2001)asusualwerefromthe
WestEnd roofgardenofourHyndlandflat(NS560675).I
Outwith 6 - 2 seethemclearlysilhouettedagainstthedusksky
Glasgow overGartnavel chimneytower, Bingham’s Pond
Survivors 13 1 5 taondacgtreaesneadacroenavsentoieintstsomuutsht.eTrhipsoilnotcaftoirontahpepmeartso
Tanhdestaubrlveiviosrass(usememdalirnygsofwhthiechnuhmabveersliovfedsetehdrloiungghs g3a0t0h0ermeinacohrdeevretnoinmgierboe-fsolreeepfloynintgheupwitnogpweirthhaopust
atleastonewintersincegermination)foundbyor collisions and heading into any wind to avoid
rtheeproerftoerdeteoxtuesndisntShceotrleacnodrdsinob2t0a0i1n.edTheiaschreypeoarrt d1r9i8f0t;inBgltaocokfmaarnf2r0o0m1)t.heWirestwaorntidnegrphoionwtt(hBeryomjhuadlgle
since1997. thedirectionofwindwhenaloftinthedarkwithout
Acknowledgements referencepointsduringnightwhenitisnotalways
NS.ocRi.etGyriastn,dMM..HM.aHtathneswesnoafndtheP.MeMta.cpOhffeircseo.nofthe Tclheeayrannudmubnecrleodude3d.onMay11th(3dayslaterthan
Reference lastyear’sarrival,alsoof3).Thoselastseenalso
Gray,R.K.S.&Grist.N.R.(2001).NaturalRegeneration numbered3onAugust20th(2onAug.182000)-
ofLimes(Tiliaspp.)inScotland.TheGlasgowNaturalist theirdeparturesignallingtheendofsummer.Their
23(6),19-21. numbersroseto22bytheendofMaywith16the
averagemaximuminJuly-August.Thesetotals
OGRlAaNsgGoEwNLatAurDaYliBstI.R2D00H2a.lVyozlia241.6-Pgaurttta1t.a94IN wweerreesseoemnewinhaJutlyf.ewMearxtihmaunmlasctouynetasriwnheeanrli2e4rytoea3r0s
HYNDLAND were25(‘94),28(‘95),20(‘96-97),18(‘98),20+
NormanR.Grist (‘99).
5AHyndlandCourt,6ASydenhamRoad,Glasgow It is always a challenge to count these rapidly
G129NR movingbirdsabouthalfakilometerawayasthey
The short note in the last Glasgow Naturalist wheelindividuallyandingroups.Mostflyinloose
(PutterandPutter2001)drewmyattentiontothe pairsandshowupblackandclearagainstthebright
interest ofmy own sighting ofa single orange dusksky,becomingalmostinvisiblewhentheyturn
ladybirdonMay22, 1999.Inoticedthisunusual head-onortail-ontotheobserver,toreappearas
ladybirdinourgarden,onaroseleafIthink,one they bank side-on. Patient scrutiny with the
sunnyafternoon,collectedandphotographeditand binoculars for several minutes can eventually
releaseditnextmorning. Thephotographswere achieve a reasonably steady count, avoiding
showntoE.G.Hancock,morerecentlytoRichard double-countingasfaraspossibleandconfirmed
WeddleandRichardSutcliffe,andtherecordwith by consistent counts over several consecutive
photographicevidencewasdulyenteredasthefirst evenings.
inGlasgowforthisspeciesinGlasgowBiological Thenumbersinearlyweeksaremodest,around8
Records. Thepossibleassociationofthespecies to 12,increasingtoroughlydoubleinJuly,then
withsycamoreswasmentionedbyPutterandPutter fallinginAugustto aboutthestartingnumbers.
(2001),andthereisonematuresycamoreinthe Perhapsthisrepresentstheadditionoftheyoung
gardenabout12metersfromwhereIfoundit.The birdsoftheyearthatinAugustflybacktoAfrica
orange ladybird is primarily a mildew feeder unaccompanied.Thisleavestheirparentsfreeof
(Majerus1994),butaphidsandhoneydewarelisted responsibilitytoenjoysomeremainingweekshere
assecondaryfoods.Mosttreesinoururbangarden ontheirownbeforetheytooreturntoAfricato
arecommonlimes(Tiliaxeuropaea)whichusually escape our winter. That the youngsters are
generate much honeydew and black mould on geneticallyprogrammedtomigrateontimetothe
vegetationbelow, and did so in1999. Are these rightplace withoutparental guidance is one of
handsome ladybirds increasing in this northern thoseamazingthings.Anotheristhespeedwith
latitude? which parental mating and egg laying, andthe
References hatching,fledgingandachievementofflightbythe
Putter,S.&Putter,K.(2001).OrangeLadybirdHalyzia youngstersarecompletedinthefewweeksofour
16-guttata(L.)inDumbarton.TheGlasgowNaturalist23 midsummer-atributetothequantityandqualityof
pt.6,120. our ‘aerial plankton’, mainly invertebrates
Majems,M.(1994).Ladybirds.HarperCollins,London. windbomeoverthecity.
GlasgowSNaUtuMraMliEstR.T2I00M2.EVSolWI24F.TPSart1.94-95 CSlwiafrtesD(aSrcloetsltaonnd,)’,Cohoarsdindartaowrnoaftte‘nCtoinocnertno tfhoer
5AHyndlandCouNrot,rGm61aA2nS9Ry.NdeRGnrihsatmRoad,Glasgow ptdahvroaaotinblolmatebymlteshsrioyonfswtmuemormusbatcatnihocfslwiotigbhfhsettesocrinvwtaiytt.thihiMosnfypserwooaebwnrldnenmeros,ebtcsbioeunrrtgdvsapItlhimaoocapneyess
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