Lost ladybird found in Devon

The 13-spot ladybird, long thought to be extinct in Britain, has turned up in a sleepy corner of the south-west.

Always considered rare, the insect Hippodamia 13-punctata was thought to have died out from the British Isles around 1952.

There have been occasional sightings since, but they've tended to be written off as strays that have managed to cross the channel. But now the discovery of a young ladybird, coming after several more sightings of adults over the least decade, proves there's a breeding population deep in the West Country.

13-spot ladybird larva.

Richard Comont, a PhD student at the Centre for Ecology & Hydrology and part of the UK Ladybird Survey, made the find while taking part in a recent BioBlitz on the Axe Estuary Wetlands. The insect was still in its immature larval form, so it couldn't have hatched far away.

'As soon as I saw the larva I was fairly sure it was a 13-spot - it's something I've dreamt of finding,' he says. 'It's such a significant discovery that I took it back to rear to adulthood to make absolutely sure, and when it finally hatched into an adult I could confirm it as the first native 13-spot for 60 years.'
The 13-spot ladybird, which can have anything between 7 and 15 spots, is slimmer than its better-known 7-spot cousin. It's longer and slimmer than its famous relation, with more of a teardrop shape than a rounded one.

'How exciting to rediscover this ladybird breeding in Devon after being declared extinct in the 1950s - it makes you wonder what else is out there waiting to be rediscovered,' comments Andrew Whitehouse, a conservation officer for Buglife in south-west England. 'Many of Britain's invertebrate populations are declining at a drastic rate, so it is great to have some good news.'

'With the experts we had on the day I knew that we would find loads of really interesting and unusual creatures, but never for a second did I think we'd make a discovery of this magnitude,' adds James Chubb, an education ranger for East Devon County Council.

A BioBlitz is an event at which members of the public try to find as many species as possible in a small area of land, under the guidance of experts. These events have turned up some rare and unexpected creatures in the past, but few as much so as this 'extinct' insect. This one was organised by East Devon District Council to showcase the variety of wildlife found in the Axe Estuary Woodlands.