You may have spotted some new residents in your gardens over the past few weeks. The gorgeous fox cubs photo is by Roger McGrath, South Avenue. Meanwhile Mr Fox was spotted “social distancing” on Wilson Road on March 16th, photo by Nicola Heather.
Andrew Heather spotted an unusual looking ladybird investigating his potato plants. It is a form spectabilis of the harlequin ladybird. This is one of the less common colour varieties.
According to CEDaR, Centre for Environmental Data and Recording, it doesn’t pose any risk at present to you or your garden. It’s main drawback is, if it becomes very common, it can out-compete native ladybirds. In warmer places harlequins can also hibernate in large numbers in houses and cause problems as they bleed an orange liquid if disturbed which stains furnishings such as curtains and drapes. No reports of this in Ireland yet though.
Photo by Andrew Heather, Trees Road
If you would like to share photos of your local wildlife visitors, please email your image to mmra@mountmerrion.ie with your name, address and location of photo.