PRETTY KILLERS:
PART 2
Another common type of these ‘pretty killers’ is the larger
seven spot ladybird which often hibernates in garden
sheds or tree bark.
They usually emerge in spring so that they can lay
their eggs in good time for them to hatch in the
following summer months. This happens when
the adult female chooses to lay her eggs on, or
near, a prolific aphid colony, so that when the
eggs hatch their prey is guaranteed. The larvae
will eat hundreds of aphids in about three weeks
before they pupate and change into a beautiful
flying beetle.
Other species include the 22 spot ladybird, which
are only two to three millimetres long. The 14
spot ladybird is only slightly larger. These yellow
and black ladybirds are generally not as common,
or as striking perhaps as the red ones, although I
consider them just as beautiful.
One reason why many ladybirds have such vivid
and striking colours which announce their presence
is that they are a defence mechanism, a common
occurrence in the natural world. It is a warning
to its predators that whilst they can be seen and
caught, they do not taste nice. In this way only a few
ladybirds are sacrificed to birds every year which
allows the rest to continue their lives without fear
of predation.
The rarer species of ladybirds in Britain must be
actively protected otherwise we will lose some of
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8 |
hiyabucks.com
Well...didn’t September come around
quickly? I don’t know if I stopped at
all in August!
We were trying to cut the hay but with the
weather being so on and off we had to sit it
out. I managed to get out with the topper and
top the fields that we are not doing for hay,
ready for tupping the ewes in October.
We purchased 50 welsh ewes from Wales to
breed our own welsh mules. How we do this
is we cross a blueface leister ram (lowland
breed) with a welsh hill ewe (highland breed).
Basically, you breed ewes which have the best
of both worlds, a ewe that’s hardy, a great
mother and very prolific.