Ladybirds........

[chevin]

They are harlequins and should be reported. My guess is that they are looking for a nice warm spot to overwinter in. ladybirds won't bite anything bigger than an aphid unless the are absolutely STARVING.

 

Well there must have been a lot of starving ladybirds when I was living in England, because I have been bitten by them especially when there has been a lot of them about and I am bigger than an aphid. I am sure that I remember seeing a warning to that effect during a recent plague of them in Cornwall(?) I am sure that there will be others here who have felt the very Noticeable nip they can give.

[Leon Roskilly]

I may have another look tomorrow

 

 

Very nice but I don't think any of it will suit you Elton, especially when worn in a bivvie

 

(Oh! my God! the images that idea conjours up ewwwwww!).

[chesters1]

Well there must have been a lot of starving ladybirds when I was living in England, because I have been bitten by them especially when there has been a lot of them about and I am bigger than an aphid. I am sure that I remember seeing a warning to that effect during a recent plague of them in Cornwall(?) I am sure that there will be others here who have felt the very Noticeable nip they can give.

 

yes and for no reason either

[Worms]

Yes they do bite, rarely, but usually to see if what they've come across is food.

 

From the Harlequin point of view I've heard that they tend to bite more often than our native species (for the same reason) and more frequently when coming out of hibernation. Some people may have an allergic reaction to the bite!

[yorkio]

Well there must have been a lot of starving ladybirds when I was living in England, because I have been bitten by them especially when there has been a lot of them about and I am bigger than an aphid. I am sure that I remember seeing a warning to that effect during a recent plague of them in Cornwall(?) I am sure that there will be others here who have felt the very Noticeable nip they can give.

I remember absolute swarms of them coming in off the sea on the Essex coast in about 1975 or 1976 or thereabouts. And they certainly did have a nip on them if they landed on you. I wonder how many there were? I've still got a very strong memory of white caravans turning dark with the sheer numbers of them!

[corydoras]

Well there must have been a lot of starving ladybirds when I was living in England, because I have been bitten by them especially when there has been a lot of them about and I am bigger than an aphid. I am sure that I remember seeing a warning to that effect during a recent plague of them in Cornwall(?) I am sure that there will be others here who have felt the very Noticeable nip they can give.

There were loads of them biting then. Because there had been a succession of mild winters there was a population of explosion of ladybirds. Once they had eaten all the aphids there were billions of starving ladybirds. They were biting people, horses, hamburgers, anything that just might be food. That does not change the fact that normally ladybirds don't bite. I used to collect beetles (Like Mr Darwin did, but on a smaller scale) and was never bitten by any beetle, never mind a ladybird.

[chesters1]

house flies will bite if hungry enough and get through trousers as well

[Leon Roskilly]

house flies will bite if hungry enough and get through trousers as well

 

 

Must be something else Chesters

 

http://www.uri.edu/ce/factsheets/sheets/houseflies.html

 

The mouth parts of the house fly are adapted for sponging up liquids.

 

They cannot bite.

 

Flies ingest only liquid food; they feed on solid food by regurgitating saliva onto it.

 

The saliva liquefies the solid material, which is then sponged up with the proboscis.

Edited October 31, 2009 by Leon Roskilly

[Elton]

I think he's right, Leon. I found a hole in my trousers where a fly had been.

[Guest Brumagem Phil]

Must be something else Chesters

 

http://www.uri.edu/ce/factsheets/sheets/houseflies.html

 

Perhaps chesters is more decayed than we first thought