Why do ladybirds have spots? I don’t know, but I’ve just guessed the reason for their shape. It gives them a hemispherical hard-top, like a sports car, to conserve heat during hibernation. Unlike other insects which seek cosy cracks against the weather, they can choose quite exposed places. I found these little bugs clinging to a post on Saturday and came back this morning for a photo-shoot. They’d regrouped a little, some huddled behind the barbed wire.
I’m grateful to Paul Mabbott for confirming their name. The Latin I learned LVI years ago has finally come in useful.
a wayfarer’s notes 
good eyes to catch them like that. I see them all of the time on my plants, but that's because I know they are there. I wouldn't think to notice them on a post behind a bit of barbed wire!
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i didn't see this version of ladybird, but the red ones with black spot is in abundance here. we used to colect them when we were very young. my favourite.
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I am so glad I clicked through to this post. I love what we call ladybugs, red ones with black spots. I have a special affection for them and when one lands on my arm, there is something so utterly enchanting about them that makes me wistful when she flies away. Who doesn't LOVE a ladybug!
Remembering the nursery rhyme,
“Ladybug ladybug fly away home,
Your house in on fire and your children are gone,
All except one and that's little Ann,
For she crept under the frying pan.”
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Oh by the way, my understanding is that ladybugs have spots so that they give the appearance to predators of death and decay which serves as a warning that they do not taste good and are slightly poisonous to eat. This way they do not make an appetizing looking snack to the nearest predator to come along.
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Yes it seems that ladybirds inspire worldwide affection.
And I find it thrilling that every “why?” question of this type appears to have an answer. Sometimes it is nice to be like a 3-year-old, and keep asking “Why? Why?”
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When I'm out walking, Hayden, K has to tell me off from picking up things, as if I were the small child and she the mother. Near the ladybug encampment is a place notorious for dumping. Running off the highway is a little concreted track ideal for backing up a van and getting rid of things in the woods: now they have blocked it off with a big mound of earth.
I was fascinated by the rusting items, amongst which I found what looked like a harp. Treasure! Closer inspection showed it was the inner remains of an upright piano. I was on my own that time, but I did not even attempt to play it – something I regret now!
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