Hidden Wings and Bloodlust

Episode 54: Laboulbeniales with Michiel de Groot

I talk to Michiel de Groot of the University of Ghent about his research on the notorious Laboulbeniales fungi, and the Hesperomyces genus which infect ladybirds - especially Harlequins. 

Follow Michiel at @michieldegroot.bsky.social 

https://beetlehangers.org/ Beetlehangers 

https://www.dannyhaelewaters.com/ - Danny Haelewaters' research

https://fun-dive.eu/ - Monitoring and mapping fungal diversity 

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Episode 53: Coccinella hieroglyphica - The Hieroglyphic Ladybird

A little studied ladybird, but with some surprising facts mentioned in this episode. 

https://www.ko-fi.com/hwabpodcast 

Ladybirds in traditional medicine: https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Shafkat-Mir/publication/378176519_Ethnobiological_use_of_insects_in_traditional_medicine_and_cultural_practices_from_the_administrative_region_Rishikesh_Dehradun-India/links/65d4263d01325d46521570c8/Ethnobiological-use-of-insects-in-traditional-medicine-and-cultural-practices-from-the-administrative-region-Rishikesh-Dehradun-India.pdf

'Are we studying too few taxa'? (Mentions the chemical defence issue) https://www.eje.cz/pdfs/eje/2005/03/09.pdf 

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1018364719317732 

https://link.springer.com/article/10.1134/S1995425517030106

 

Other info found on 'Field Guide to the Ladybirds of Britain and Ireland' by Helen Roy et al. 

Correction: The Palearctic Region is Europe, North Africa and Asia all the way to Japan. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Palearctic_realm

Music by Debra Torrance

.vtt transcript now available in Podbean and other podcast apps :) 

Episode 52 - The Orange Ladybird

All about the orange ladybird - one orange organism you will be glad to hear about in these bleak times. 

 

Buy my book! https://mybook.to/82BK2En 

Support me with Ko-Fi: https://ko-fi.com/hwabpodcast 

https://www.nature.com/articles/srep11021.pdf 

https://www.academia.edu/download/90336212/latest.pdf

https://www.gnhs.org.uk/gn25_3/weddle_halyzia16.pdf

https://mahieu.org.uk/orange-ladybirds/ 

https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/01647959508684050 

 

Ladybird Atlas 2025: https://biodiversityireland.ie/surveys/ladybird-atlas-2025/ 

 

Exciting news!

I'm gonna restart the @hwabpodcast again! 

Episode 51: Artificial Grass with Richard Dowling

I interview wildlife campaigner Richard Dowling (@DowlingWildlife on Twitter) about artificial grass. In this episode we talk about what the problems are with it, what the best low-maintenance plants are for your lawn as alternatives to grass, what to do if your landlord won't let you get rid of an artificial lawn and more! 

With a promo for Crime Most French @CrimeMostFrench :) 

 

Music by Debra Torrance. 

 

Sign Richard's petition here: https://petition.parliament.uk/petitions/608295 

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Episode 49 (50!): A walk around a nature reserve

I walk around a nature reserve near my house and look for ladybirds. Apologies in advance for the poor sound quality, I didn't really edit this and recorded it on a phone :) 

Music by Debra Torrance. 

 

 

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Episode 50 (49!): Interview with Helen Roy!

For episode 50, I interviewed Professor Helen Roy who manages the UK Ladybird Survey. She is the author of several books including the Field Guide to the Ladybirds of the UK and Ireland and one of the most well-known ladybird experts in the world. She's also president of the Royal Entomological Society! 

Find out more here: https://www.ceh.ac.uk/staff/helen-roy or follow her on Twitter @UKLadybirds 

 

Follow Imogen Cavadino's slug survey,  mentioned in the episode here: 

https://twitter.com/i_cavadino 

Take part here: https://www.rhs.org.uk/science/help-our-research/slug 

 

Buy me a coffee: https://www.ko-fi.com/hwabpodcast 

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Episode 48: Calvia quatuordecimguttata - The Cream-Spot Ladybird

All about the cream-spot ladybird. Does include a discussion of reproduction with some mildly strong language so take care while listening! 

Featuring a promo for the Wild Episode: https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/the-wild-episode/id1364093026

@WildEpisode on Twitter 

 

Buy me a coffee: https://www.ko-fi.com/hwabpodcast 

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Sources:

Field Guide to the Ladybirds of Britain and Ireland - Helen Roy 

Ladybirds of UK FB group - https://www.facebook.com/groups/971664196190955 for more on cream-spot behaviour 

https://bugguide.net/node/view/26792 - Polymorphic cream-spot ladybirds in the USA

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Calvia_Crispinilla 

For distribution in Channel Islands see irecord data on channel islands and Calvia quatuordecimguttata (www.irecord.org.uk) 

https://www.pherobase.com/database/species/species-Calvia-quatuordecimguttata.php

https://academic.oup.com/aesa/article/88/6/785/162813?login=true (Also shows that lower temperatures = bigger ladybirds). 

https://d1wqtxts1xzle7.cloudfront.net/42503173/Chemical_protection_of_Calvia_quatuordec20160209-30509-1qhtj4f-with-cover-page-v2.pdf?Expires=1650412784&Signature=AYhihYlKN4Dp5AUA51bV17b80GZ-6oyl0UzQYEjAt59NZy1tXE~Ax-Ocy-PZlC2pBKsJAXQkJn47250qu~qbjVl7XXYSGbRRm5IOEmh-b~SXa29wloRF-6xZcDqiihynzmb8nxdHM78mnJQSF~kTbsaiCQyps5HpYabJnrCTSf9mVJLX3vMeztRE~PwxWGcCoJDHQtv-ylcJEVCZOwpTVhvyNfy7CwQhXuPuMra0Bu03oFt0G86Z0E91LKRXgfaEEezYI52b29ruVTS9ulzHo0E5sFNGhuUFsisUaS9gpfixK1YT3A0yzqwj45PIT2RdXeI-hVsw84wPFq7WDa9McA__&Key-Pair-Id=APKAJLOHF5GGSLRBV4ZA - Alexandra Magro's study, 2007 

https://www.researchgate.net/publication/333761329_Niche_width_and_niche_specialization_in_four_species_of_ladybirds_Coleoptera_Coccinellidae_co-occurring_in_the_same_habitat - Polish study of 4 different ladybirds 

 

http://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/33024/ - Investigating ladybird alkaloids as new leads for novel insecticides 

https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdfdirect/10.1111/jeb.13074

 

https://doc.rero.ch/record/316061/files/10526_2012_Article_9470.pdf

 

https://resjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1111/icad.12158

https://besjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/j.1365-2656.2004.00769.x - Sexually transmitted mites info 

http://nora.nerc.ac.uk/id/eprint/513378/1/N513378PP.pdf 

https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10530-016-1077-6 

http://earaza.ru/wp-content/uploads/20210505_zoo_eco_issues.pdf#page=177 - Russian study comparing clutch sizes on apples and pears 

https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Jean-Francois-Godeau/publication/269100775_Identification_of_prey_items_in_frass_of_three_ladybird_beetles_living_on_black_alder/links/548051bc0cf2ccc7f8bb98f2/Identification-of-prey-items-in-frass-of-three-ladybird-beetles-living-on-black-alder.pdf 

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0040402010001651 - Piperidines info 

 

Episode 47: Ladybirds in Cemeteries

I interview Mark Welfare from the Northeast Ladybird Spot, and Juliet Wilson and Per Smiseth from Cemetery Wildlife Watch about ladybirds in cemeteries. Around 35 minutes in, the zoom recording cut out, so apologies if it goes a bit weird around then! 

Visit Juliet's Etsy shop: https://craftygreenpoet.etsy.com 

Cemetery Wildlife Watch: https://www.facebook.com/groups/257026872679440 

UK Hoverflies facebook group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/609272232450940 

Ladybirds of UK facebook group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/971664196190955 

Find out more about the North East Ladybird Spot here: https://twitter.com/NEE_Naturalist 

 

Buy me a coffee: https://www.ko-fi.com/hwabpodcast 

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Bonus Episode#2: Cheilomenes bidentata - The Lipstick Ladybird

Find out about a little-known South African ladybird. Please note that the 'meandering black line' description was not mine but was said by one of the commenters on the posts I looked at for this episode. 

https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/107697606
https://www.ispotnature.org/communities/southern-africa/view/observation/699558/cheilomenes-bidentata-on-senecio-rigidus
https://www.ispotnature.org/communities/southern-africa/view/observation/333066/lipstick-ladybeetle
https://www.arc.agric.za/arc-ppri/Newsletter%20Library/SANSA%20News,%20No%2026,%20June-August%202016.pdf
https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/76922377

If you like this show and want to support me you can buy me a coffee on Ko-Fi – www.ko-fi.com/hwabpodcast. You can follow me on Twitter @hwabpodcast or on Instagram @365.ladybird, or like my facebook page Hidden Wings and Bloodlust. You can follow me on Apple Podcasts, Spotify or wherever you get your podcasts. Music is by Debra Torrance.