Coming to a garden near you

I'd never seen one until a few weeks ago, but now it seems like they're everywhere. Harlequin ladybirds have found their way into The Lodge gardens, into our office, into my house and - it appears - into just about everywhere else, too...

At home, I was reading the papers on a sunny Sunday afternoon when I spotted ladybirds crawling over the windows. I went outside for a closer look and found they weren't 'normal' ladybirds (two- or seven-spots are common) but harlequins! The south-facing wall of the house was literally crawling with them... I estimated at least 60 were trying to work their way into my house via the window frames. We were under attack by small beetles!

They're undeniably pretty, but harlequins are not good news here. Bigger and hungrier than our native ladybirds, they were brought from Asia to southern Europe by farmers hoping to rid their crops of aphids. They arrived in Essex from across the Channel in 2004 and have already made it as far as west Wales, Yorkshire and Cornwall.

In the USA (where they're called Asian lady beetles), it's now the country's most widespread ladybird species, after becoming established as recently as 1988. Scary stuff.

Are they dangerous? If you're a native UK ladybird, a butterfly or moth caterpillar egg, or a small insect, yes - you might get eaten.

Have they made it to your neck of the woods yet? The Harlequin Survey website can tell you.