A quote from Beryl Markham was the last thing I expected to find in this article! I read a biography of her a few years ago, what an incredible life she had!
The book it comes from was published in 1942 so it just a few years older than me. Heaven knows where I first found the quote, but it seems quite appropriate.
Thanks Richard. This is very interesting. In the fall we get a lot of elongated orangey red beetles with black stripes (or is it dots?) at our front door wanting to come inside.
I have a 2 story white house that attracts Ladybugs on it's south facing wall every fall. Like hundreds! Many of the Ladybugs find their way inside. Over the years I have learned a nifty trick to having most of them fly back outside in the evening. As the sun is setting, I turn off all of the indoor lights and open most windows and doors. Then I get out of the way for the slowly fluttering Ladybugs as they make their way towards the outdoor light of the setting sun. There are always a few stragglers, but most leave and rather quickly. :-) I am also careful to wash away any scent trails Ladybugs leave around areas like windows where they may try to huddle together to winter over. I like Ladybugs and do take care to remove them gently when necessary. They do emit a tiny stink if they feel threatened. But, mostly I think of them as an interesting conversation piece. :-) I am always delighted when I see one with only 2 spots or the rare black ones with red spots.
When my dad was still alive, they had a sunroom full of plants and orchids and he bought a box of ladybugs to let them loose to control the aphids. They all seemed to disappear after a while. Now, when we have a ladybug in the house, I bring it to my houseplants.
From noted biologist J.B.S. Haldane: "The Creator would appear as endowed with a passion for stars, on the one hand, and for beetles on the other, for the simple reason that there are nearly 300,000 species of beetle known, and perhaps more, as compared with somewhat less than 9,000 species of birds and a little over 10,000 species of mammals. Beetles are actually more numerous than the species of any other insect order. That kind of thing is characteristic of nature." [Note: The more famous, but apparently apocryphal version of this quote is "God has an inordinate fondness for beetles."]
Excellent introduction to beetles. I've seen very few Red Soldier Beetles this year, they're usually common round Edinburgh. Harlequin Ladybirds have been introduced here too and are taking over, though early this summer we had a huge number of Seven Spot Ladybirds, I've never seen so many since the summer of 1976 (which is still remembered in the UK as the year of the ladybird 'plague')
Yes, 76, the year of the hot summer and ladybirds everywhere. We had a family holiday in Wales that year and there were ladybirds literally everywhere, fences were covered with them!
A quote from Beryl Markham was the last thing I expected to find in this article! I read a biography of her a few years ago, what an incredible life she had!
The book it comes from was published in 1942 so it just a few years older than me. Heaven knows where I first found the quote, but it seems quite appropriate.
Thanks Richard. This is very interesting. In the fall we get a lot of elongated orangey red beetles with black stripes (or is it dots?) at our front door wanting to come inside.
I have a 2 story white house that attracts Ladybugs on it's south facing wall every fall. Like hundreds! Many of the Ladybugs find their way inside. Over the years I have learned a nifty trick to having most of them fly back outside in the evening. As the sun is setting, I turn off all of the indoor lights and open most windows and doors. Then I get out of the way for the slowly fluttering Ladybugs as they make their way towards the outdoor light of the setting sun. There are always a few stragglers, but most leave and rather quickly. :-) I am also careful to wash away any scent trails Ladybugs leave around areas like windows where they may try to huddle together to winter over. I like Ladybugs and do take care to remove them gently when necessary. They do emit a tiny stink if they feel threatened. But, mostly I think of them as an interesting conversation piece. :-) I am always delighted when I see one with only 2 spots or the rare black ones with red spots.
When my dad was still alive, they had a sunroom full of plants and orchids and he bought a box of ladybugs to let them loose to control the aphids. They all seemed to disappear after a while. Now, when we have a ladybug in the house, I bring it to my houseplants.
Me too! :-)
From noted biologist J.B.S. Haldane: "The Creator would appear as endowed with a passion for stars, on the one hand, and for beetles on the other, for the simple reason that there are nearly 300,000 species of beetle known, and perhaps more, as compared with somewhat less than 9,000 species of birds and a little over 10,000 species of mammals. Beetles are actually more numerous than the species of any other insect order. That kind of thing is characteristic of nature." [Note: The more famous, but apparently apocryphal version of this quote is "God has an inordinate fondness for beetles."]
Excellent introduction to beetles. I've seen very few Red Soldier Beetles this year, they're usually common round Edinburgh. Harlequin Ladybirds have been introduced here too and are taking over, though early this summer we had a huge number of Seven Spot Ladybirds, I've never seen so many since the summer of 1976 (which is still remembered in the UK as the year of the ladybird 'plague')
'76 was it? We lived a bit west of Cambridge then and remember it well.
Yes, 76, the year of the hot summer and ladybirds everywhere. We had a family holiday in Wales that year and there were ladybirds literally everywhere, fences were covered with them!