Hidden Wings and Bloodlust – Details, episodes & analysis

All about the orange ladybird - one orange organism you will be glad to hear about in these bleak times. 

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https://www.nature.com/articles/srep11021.pdf 

https://www.academia.edu/download/90336212/latest.pdf

https://www.gnhs.org.uk/gn25_3/weddle_halyzia16.pdf

https://mahieu.org.uk/orange-ladybirds/ 

https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/01647959508684050 

Ladybird Atlas 2025: https://biodiversityireland.ie/surveys/ladybird-atlas-2025/ 

I'm gonna restart the @hwabpodcast again! 

Despite what it says in the intro this is episode 44. I talk to spider advocate Tea Francis about the relationship between ladybirds and spiders. We talk about the rare and beautiful Ladybird Spider, what spiders do with ladybirds in their webs, spiders which eat aphids, how to start keeping invertebrates and more! 

Follow Tea on Twitter @tea_francis

Follow her on Instagram @scienteafic 

Sign up to her Patreon here: https://www.patreon.com/scienteafic 

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Steve Allain talks me through the changes to protection of endangered species and possible threats to their survival from proposed government legislation and changes to their status. Please note it says 'episode 44' in the intro because it's being released slightly out of order...

Record sightings with the irecord app: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=uk.ac.ceh.irecord

https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2021/jul/02/red-squirrels-and-pine-martens-could-lose-protection-in-uk-review-say-experts

Info about the changes from the ARG: https://www.arguk.org/get-involved/news/7th-quinquennial-review-qqr-of-schedules-5-and-8-of-the-wildlife-and-countryside-act-1981-a-summary-by-arg-uk

Follow @stevoallain on Twitter 

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Music by Debra Torrance :) 

This week's episode is all about the twice-stabbed ladybug. Found in North America, this ladybird has interesting genetics and a weird lifestyle. Plus, hear an update with new information about the kidney spot! 

Podcast recommendation - The Wild Episode with Brian Ruckley. Follow https://twitter.com/WildEpisode or www.wildepisode.com :) 

Sources: 

Picture used in show notes by Parihav at the English-language Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 3.0 , via Wikimedia Commons. Picture can be found here: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Twicestabbed1.jpg 

https://www.mdpi.com/2075-4450/11/6/368 - Rigorous Morphological Studies Confirm That the Classical Object of Pest Control Chilocorus kuwanae Is the Same Species as Ch. renipustulatus (Coleoptera: Coccinellidae)

https://biocontrol.entomology.cornell.edu/predators/Chilocoruss.php 

https://www.scielo.br/j/gmb/a/dhbZYvwxrYCKKhnK3SmHJTs/abstract/?lang=en - Information on the XY chromosomes

https://www.nature.com/articles/1931210a0 - Polymorphic chromosomes

https://bugguide.net/node/view/817339 - Another similar ladybird :) 

https://www.fs.fed.us/nrs/pubs/gtr/gtr_wo37/18_mayer_wo37.pdf - Chilocorus stigma and beech scale 

https://aggie-horticulture.tamu.edu/galveston/beneficials/beneficial-16_twicestabbed_ladybug.htm 

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/16334330/ 

https://books.google.co.uk/books?id=VGQiB01pBeIC&pg=PA168&lpg=PA168&dq=chilocorus+stigma+mussel+scale&source=bl&ots=XrXmUpe-Se&sig=ACfU3U02pJOEFxUgGz5r2UaebZWKk5m6UQ&hl=en&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwjvhJXfve_xAhVNSsAKHR_SC1QQ6AEwCXoECAcQAw#v=onepage&q=chilocorus%20stigma%20mussel%20scale&f=false - Chapter from Ivo Hodek's book with info on low survival rates on Mussel Scale. 

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Music by Debra Torrance :) 

Find out about a ladybird with square spots that can be said to resemble a clown face, a football, an emoji, an anchor and more! 

This week's podcast recommendation is @PodcastSpecies - https://podcasts.google.com/feed/aHR0cHM6Ly9hbmNob3IuZm0vcy8zYTg2YzFmMC9wb2RjYXN0L3Jzcw== 

Talk Ag To Me episode: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/ladybird-lady-talk-ag-to-me-ft-rachael-from-hidden/id1481265957?i=1000528087613 

Follow @TalkAgToMe on twitter 

Arabic transcription of Episode 36 (Ladybirds in Palestine) now on Opinya Times! https://www.opinyatimes.com/%d9%81%d9%8a-%d8%ad%d9%84%d9%82%d8%a9-%d8%ae%d8%a7%d8%b5%d8%a9-%d8%b9%d9%86-%d8%a7%d9%84%d8%ad%d8%b4%d8%b1%d8%a7%d8%aa-%d9%81%d9%8a-%d9%81%d9%84%d8%b3%d8%b7%d9%8a%d9%86-%d8%a5%d8%b9%d9%84%d8%a7%d9%85/?fbclid=IwAR0uqJdG1Bw7h-xv_HmL8zk3CWt4kSF1_DbvlH-xwHnnyC-xpBiUtJSlFFY 

Sources: 

https://www.britannica.com/technology/propylaeum 

https://www.ukbeetles.co.uk/propylea - More info on diet and lifestyle :) 

https://www.eje.cz/pdfs/eje/2005/03/17.pdf - Life expectancy and fertility with 6 species of aphid 

https://www.eje.cz/pdfs/eje/2008/03/09.pdf 

https://www.academia.edu/download/39067810/final_Phototactic_Effects_of_Light_Emitting_Diodes_LEDs.pdf 

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Music at the start of the show by Debra Torrance :) 

I talk to paranormal investigator CJ Romer about his memories of 1976, the year when 23 billion ladybirds invaded the UK. We have a fun conversation about his recollection of the ladybird invasion, the sensationalism of the media, how to communicate with a ghostly ladybird and more! 

You can read more about CJ's work at ASSAP, the Association for the Scientific Study of Anomalous Phenomena here: http://www.assap.ac.uk/ 

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-35603972#:~:text=The%20hot%20summer%20of%201976,reporting%20being%20bitten%20by%20them.&text=The%20British%20Entomological%20and%20Natural,of%20England%20by%20late%20July. 

You might have heard about the ladybird invasion of 1976. In Part 1 of this special 2-part episode, I talk about what happened in that famous year and talk about possible scientific explanations of what might have happened, as well as the impact on the society and community. 

Podcast recommendation this week is Ungagged! Please check out our film club discussion here: http://leftungagged.org/2021/06/28/film-club-pride-2014/ 

Sources: 

Newspaper articles from the Mirror, the Birkenhead News, the Sun and other local and national newspapers, kindly uploaded by Christian Jensen Romer. 

https://www.countryfile.com/countryfile/great-drought-of-1976-what-happened-and-what-was-the-impact-on-britain/ 

https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2006/may/17/water.ethicalliving 

https://www.lep.co.uk/news/do-you-remember-ladybird-plague-1976-why-britains-latest-heatwave-hasnt-caused-another-plague-45908 

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-35603972 

https://www.wikiwirral.co.uk/forums/ubbthreads.php/topics/219043/re-ladybird-swarm-1976.html 

https://inews.co.uk/news/environment/ladybird-invasion-swarms-uk-population-explosion-season-181142 

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/0006320778900022

https://www.york.ac.uk/news-and-events/news/2017/research/1976-drought-butterflies-moths/#:~:text=Scientists%20at%20the%20University%20of,swarming%20in%20search%20of%20food. 

http://lostladybug.org/file_uploads/WashupEntAmericana.pdf 

https://eje.cz/pdfs/eje/1993/04/04.pdf - Ivo Hodek's study

https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0082278 

https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Dan-Minchin/publication/274475587_A_swarm_of_the_seven-spot_ladybird_Coccinella_septempunctata_Coleoptera_Coccinellidae_carried_on_a_cruise_ship/links/595caa7eaca272f3c08f510e/A-swarm-of-the-seven-spot-ladybird-Coccinella-septempunctata-Coleoptera-Coccinellidae-carried-on-a-cruise-ship.pdf - Hibernating 7-spots on a Moroccan cruise ship :) 

http://la.climatologie.free.fr/secheresse/drought-heat_wave1.htm - Drought in France

https://www.ouest-france.fr/bretagne/les-coccinelles-envahissent-le-littoral-larmor-plage-27639

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/002017907790035X

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Website: https://hiddenwingsandbloodlust.podbean.com 

Music by Debra Torrance :) 

Discover the world of the 6-spotted zigzag ladybird, a commonly found ladybird in India and the Pacific. 

Picture used on the episode artwork by Renju from Kerala, India (user: Renjusplace on wikipedia) https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Cheilomenes_sexmaculata,_ladybird_10.jpg

Sources: 

http://indianladybirds.myspecies.info/gallery

https://www.angelfire.com/bug2/j_poorani/

https://www.taylorfrancis.com/chapters/edit/10.1201/9780429061400-14/coccinellidae-indian-subcontinent-poorani

https://foodandscientificreports.com/assets/uploads/issues/1585768721six_spotted_zigzag_ladybird_beetle.pdf

https://jpp.um.ac.ir/article/view/50296/article_36723.html?lang=en

https://www.projectnoah.org/spottings/1409806002

https://pdfs.semanticscholar.org/3c16/014a12c1ca2f652f3f522bf7cd9481081204.pdf

https://www.entomoljournal.com/archives/2016/vol4issue5/PartH/4-5-41-780.pdf

https://www.academia.edu/14764698/Cheilomenes_Sexmaculata_The_Six_Spotted_Zigzag_Ladybird_Beetle

https://www.researchgate.net/publication/317257411_Protogyny_after_hibernation_and_aestivation_in_Cheilomenes_sexmaculata_Coleoptera_Coccinellidae_in_central_Japan

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Podcast promo for this week - Nature Newbies with Anna Feeney. https://naturenewbies.podbean.com/ 

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Music by Debra Torrance :) 

A deep dive into the relationships between ladybirds and ants. With a podcast recommendation for Just Plain Wrong - @plainwrongpod on Twitter. 

My apologies for the muffled audio quality on this episode - in the first version it sounded very uneven. 

Sources: 

https://billsbirding.blogspot.com/2014/06/scarce-7-spot-ladybird.html

Evolutionary Perspectives on Myrmecophily in Ladybirds: https://www.hindawi.com/journals/psyche/2012/591570/ 

https://www.jungledragon.com/image/110769/globe_marked_lady_beetles_azya_orbigera.html - Globe Marked ladybeetles 

https://www.ispotnature.org/communities/southern-africa/view/project/645756/indigenous-ladybird-species-distribution-in-south-africa-coccinellidae/observations - Photo of the blue-eyed ant munching lady beetle 

Field Guide to the Ladybirds of Great Britain and Ireland

Spotlight Ladybirds by Richard Comont

https://www.researchgate.net/publication/331072095_High_parasitization_of_a_rare_ladybird_Platynaspis_luteorubra_-_a_reason_of_its_rarity - High parasitisation of Platynaspis luteorubra 

A Natural History of Ladybird Beetles by Michael Majerus et al

https://www.jstor.org/stable/40863799

https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10905-008-9163-y 

https://www.wildlifetrusts.org/wildlife-explorer/invertebrates/ants/black-garden-ant 

https://www.wildlifetrusts.org/wildlife-explorer/invertebrates/ants/yellow-meadow-ant

https://entnemdept.ufl.edu/creatures/urban/ants/Myrmica_ruba.htm 

https://www.jstor.org/stable/4221364?seq=1 - Waxy coatings on Scymnus ladybirds. 

https://thecreative.cafe/the-fable-of-the-ant-and-the-ladybug-31115946df22?gi=a382b2df1244#:~:text=The%20Fable%20of%20the%20Ant%20and%20the%20Ladybug.,at%20all.%20In%20fact%2C%20it%20was%20a%20ladybug%21 - The fable of the ant and the ladybug 

https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/large-blue/id1334821500?i=1000519771414 - Species Podcast episode on the Large Blue butterfly

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Follow me on Twitter: @hwabpodcast

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Music by Debra Torrance :)