A PRELIMINARY ACCOUNT OF THE LADYBIRDS OF WILTSHIRE 



129 



Adonia variegata (Goeze). Adonis ladybird. Mainly a 

 coastal species but also occurs inland on well drained, 

 often sandy soils and may exist in Wiltshire. It has been 

 found on a variety of plants in heathland, grassland, 

 parkland, riverbanks and waste ground. Notable B. See 

 comment above on variation in spot numbers. 



In addition to these are several other species which 

 have been found from time to time in Britain but 

 are not thought to be breeding here. Most form 

 part of the large body of continental ladybirds some 

 of which may well establish themselves in the future 

 as a result of climate change. 



STATUS OF THE 

 HEATHER AND FIVE 

 SPOT LADYBIRD 

 RECORDS 



The presence of the heather and five spot ladybirds 

 in the county list rests solely on their inclusion in 

 the accounts of Coleoptera published in the annual 

 Report of the Marlborough College Natural History 

 Society (summarised in Anon., 1939). The heather 

 ladybird first appears in 1874 and the five spot in 

 1895. No data are given with the first but the second 

 is attributed to 'A. G.J [ebb] 1 on nettles, Pewsey 

 Road' (no date is given). 



Both ladybirds also have very specific habitat 

 requirements: heather heathland and unstable river 

 shingle respectively. Given the absence of these, too, 

 in the Marlborough area at the present time, and 

 the ease of confusing both species with other, more 

 common, ladybirds, it was assumed that these 

 records resulted from misidentifications. The fact 

 that the record of the five spot would have been, in 

 1895, one of the first for England, but that this was 

 not mentioned in the Report, further indicated a 

 lack of knowledge about the species. Inspection of 

 both specimens in the College collection, however, 

 showed them to be correctly identified although 

 neither had any data attached. 



Further searching in the collection revealed the 

 presence of singleton specimens without any 

 attached data representing a further eight species 

 of Coccinellidae, including the hieroglyphic 

 ladybird, not published in the Reports (together 

 with a large number of other species in different 

 families), and these omissions were presumed to 

 result from the specimens not having been found 



in the Marlborough area. The distinctive setting 

 style of the insects concerned, utilising small cards 

 and short pins, is very similar to that of the heather 

 and five spot ladybirds. Furthermore, it was noted 

 that many are rare and some, like those in the 

 Coccinellid genus Scymnus and others among the 

 small Staphylinidae, for example, very difficult for 

 the amateur to identify. 



It is known that the College collection was 

 supplemented from other sources, and that one of 

 the donors of specimens was Edward Caldwell Rye 

 (1832-1885), the well known London-based 

 Coleopterist. Rye's expertise was considerable. He 

 not only wrote a book, British Beetles, 1863 

 (republished in 1890 after bringing up to date by 

 W.W.Fowler) but also published more than two 

 hundred articles on the British fauna, many 

 bringing forward new species in 'difficult' groups. 

 It is possible, therefore, that these singleton 

 specimens were his. 



Against this argument, at least in the case of the 

 five spot, is the fact that none of Rye's publications 

 mention its capture. Enquiries at the Bolton 

 Museum, where his collection is housed (as part of 

 the Philip Mason Collection), have failed to locate 

 any further specimens (or any information relating 

 to the Marlborough material although building 

 works, which will not be completed for some time, 

 have prevented a complete search). Of course, if 

 the insect was taken in one of its recorded Scottish 

 habitats, he may not have considered publication 

 worthwhile anyway. 



Additionally, one must also bear in mind that 

 although the five spot has only been recorded in 

 numbers from Wales and Scotland, there have been 

 three records in recent years of singletons from 

 South Dorset, Warwickshire and Cornwall, all now 

 thought to be vagrants. (Majerus, M.E.N., and 

 Fowles, A.P, 1989). 



Many of these remarks referring to Rye's 

 possible involvement, also apply to the heather 

 ladybird, the status of which must be considered 

 doubtful, too, until further specimens have been 

 found. In this case a search of the heather heathland 

 in the south of the county could well prove fruitful. 



ACKOWLEDGEMENTS 



I am very grateful to Dr Jack Oliver for advice about 

 the absence of wood ants in the Marlborough area; 

 Dee Adcock for finding a copy of Majerus, M.E.N., 

 1 994, for me; and to the authorities at Marlborough 



