The rarely seen clustered way ladybirds ladybugs survive the winter

Just walking my dog, I passed the upright standing trunk of a massive dead oaktree. The storm of june 22nd 2007 had finished it.
The bark is coming of now in large pieces, and under one of those pieces I found this surprise.
The different colours of the insects was a surprise too, but obviously all in the family.

Ladybug info from National Geographic:
Many people are fond of ladybugs because of their colorful, spotted appearance. But farmers love them for their appetite. Most ladybugs voraciously consume plant-eating insects, such as aphids, and in doing so they help to protect crops. Ladybugs lay hundreds of eggs in the colonies of aphids and other plant-eating pests. When they hatch, the ladybug larvae immediately begin to feed. By the end of its three-to-six-week life, a ladybug may eat some 5,000 aphids.

Ladybugs are also called lady beetles or, in Europe, ladybird beetles. There are about 5,000 different species of these insects, and not all of them have the same appetites. A few ladybugs prey not on plant-eaters but on plants. The Mexican bean beetle and the squash beetle are destructive pests that prey upon the crops mentioned in their names.

Ladybugs appear as half-spheres, tiny, spotted, round or oval-shaped domes. They have short legs and antennae.

Their distinctive spots and attractive colors are meant to make them unappealing to predators. Ladybugs can secrete a fluid from joints in their legs which gives them a foul taste. Their coloring is likely a reminder to any animals that have tried to eat their kind before: "I taste awful." A threatened ladybug may both play dead and secrete the unappetizing substance to protect itself.

Category:

Pets & Animals

Tags:

• ladybirds
• ladybugs
• surviving
• survival
• insects
• winter
• dead
• oak
• tree
• walking
• dog
• interesting
• nature
• beautiful
• diversity

[MsCrazyhorselady]

we have alot of lady bugs it looks like the floor is moving in the barn their are so many! plus they have a funny smell?

[hackneysaregreat]

amazing

I think you can smell their excrements when in such numbers

[Vintage1923]

I Norfolk the local name for Lady Birds is Bishybarny Bees

[hackneysaregreat]

Thanks.

When I translate it, we here in Holland say something like

"ourdearLordslittlebeasts"....

[blonde977]

woah! thats insane, did you call them Ladybirds? i call them Ladybugs, or what alot of people call them Ladybugs

[hackneysaregreat]

Looked that up again in my dictionary, and both are mentioned, so I adapted the title.

thanks!

[simplyBestGIRL]

this is 1st time i see black ladybugs

[glutaminepowder]

bust out the hairspray and lighter

[somthingiwontforget]

Ladybug orgy!

[firmclock]

thay look happy

[derBUmann]

@MsCrazyhorselady 

[accidentalhomicide]

@LastTree woops well its like a mass murder of them when i see em around hate that smell

[cafekawaii]

@twizzinav We had quite a few up here in Autumn in Ontario,Canada too. They usually disappear by Autumn but I found about a dozen inside my house.. lol

[twizzinav]

we've had an influx of them this autumn in the UK. A strange sight to see plastered on the side of buildings