Above is Athous haemorrhoidalis. The adult is 11.5 - 15.0 mm long, and is most commonly seen in the summer months in or near hedgerows, field margins and meadows throughout England and Wales, it is less common in Scotland, and found in just a few places in Ireland.

Elateriade Family

Left is a beetle belonging to the Elateridae family. These are commonly known as click beetles or skipjacks, and the larvae (right) are know as wire worms. There are 9 000 species world wide, and 65 species in Britain. They range in length from 0.2 cm - 7.0 cm. The beetles on the left have the typical elongated body of the Elateridae, with the pointed rear end and the head almost invisible. The adults feed on pollen, nectar, flowers or leaves, and when they are alarmed they will drop to the ground and play dead. Often they land on their backs, and once they feel danger has passed with get back up on their feet with a flick of their body. It is this flick accompanied by a clicking sound that gives them their common name. Some beetles can flick themselves to quite a height, and this has become their method of escaping danger. The larvae (right) are known as wire worms, they live on plant roots and cause a large amount of damage. It can take a larva five years of feeding before it is ready to pupate. The larva is elongate and cylindrical, and is usually orange or yellow in colour. Below are two views of an Elateridae pupa.

Curculionidae Family There are over 50 000 species world wide, 1 200 in Europe, and 416 in Britain. Many are considered pests, e.g. the vine weevil, left, the granary weevil (below), the cotton boll weevil, the grain weevil and rice weevil. All Curculionids are vegetarian, and most lay their eggs inside or on their foodplant. Most adults have the characteristic snout (also called the rostrum) with jaws at the end, and elbowed, clubbed antennae extending from the snout (see left and below) usually with 11 segments. Adults range in length from 1 - 40 mm. The larvae (below right) generally live in plants are are usually short, round, fleshy, legless and milky coloured. The adults generally feed on the outside of plants. Many are decorated with colourful scales which tend to rub off with age.

On the left is Otiorhynchus sulcatus, the vine weevil. It belongs to the Curculionidae family. The adults are dull black with small patches of dirty yellow on the elytra. The adults are flightless. The adults range in size from 8.0 - 10.5 mm. It is slow moving and usually active after dark. Sometimes an adult will be found on the inside of a closed window when you get up in the morning. This probably means that you have an infested indoor pot plant.

If you re-pot the plant you may find 10s - 100- of fat grubs. Don't throw them out. Put them in a dish and leave tem out for the blackbirds - they love them! The larvae feed below the soil surface and the adults eat the leaves. Most vine weevils are females and they can reproduce parthenogenetically. the eggs are usually laid on the soil surface. Ground beetles are a major predator, as are commercially available nematodes.

On the left is Phyllobious sp. another weevil. Like many weevils it is covered in colourful scales. These can wear off with age leaving black patches.

On the right is an adult granary weevil, Sitophilus granarius. It is a pest of stored grain, and its body length is 2.3 - 3.5 mm. Adults emerge from a grain, then mate - they cannot fly so a mate is found by walking. The female drills a hole in a grain and lays a single egg, then plugs up the hole. The egg hatches and the larva begins to eat its way through the grain. It pupates inside the grain, and then emerges as an adult to start the cycle again. A female can lay up to 250 eggs at a rate of 2 - 3 a day. The length of life cycle depends on temperature, but is 30 - 40 days in summer and 120 - 150 days in winter.

Left and right are ladybirds, these belong to the Coccinellidae family. There are 5 000 species world wide, and around 42 in the U.K., and most have the characteristic round shape. They range in length from 1 - 15 mm. The antennae are short and end in a club. Most adults and larvae are carnivorous, though there are a few herbivorous species. The females lay batches of 3 - 50 eggs on the undersides of leaves, usually close to aphids. The eggs are yellow. Normally a female can lay 100 - 200 eggs in her lifetime. Each larva will eat hundreds of aphids in its life. Both adults and larvae are now sold as biological control agents. The bright colouration of both adults and larvae is a warning to predators that they taste foul!

This is termed aposematic colouring. The one above right has normal colouration of a 7 spot (Coccinella septempunctata). That above left has melanic colouration. This type of dark colouration is not so unusual, and is linked to the genes of the beetle. It is believed that in colder areas the dark colouration may be an advantage because it will enable the beetle to warm up more quickly. Adults range in length from 6 - 8 mm. Adults often overwinter together in huge numbers as this conserves warmth. Right is a drawing of a typical Coccinellidae larva. They are short and fat. They body has numerous tubercles and spines. The colours are brown, blue-black with yellow. Their legs are long and they are usually found on plants and trees in batches of 10 - 50 near their aphid prey.

The females usually lay the eggs on plants, and as a newly hatched ladybird larva can survive for only 60 hours without food, the egg must be laid near their food - usually aphids or their relative. Earwigs are predators of ladybird eggs.

On the left is the Orange ladybird, Halyzia 16 guttata. This ladybird is unusual in the it feeds on mildew on the undersides of the leaves of deciduous trees, although its secondary food is aphids. It overwinters in leaf litter, on trees (especially sycamore), and also underground. Its eggs are off white-pale lemon yellow and laid in batches of up to 24 on leaves. I found this one injured and clinging to the side of a gate into the woods.

Not a ladybird, but similar - click here

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