An assemblage of ladybirds (Coccinellidae) from a Herefordshire hedgerow network, including Clitostethus arcuatus (Rossi) and Nephus quadrimaculatus (Herbst)

摘要

A commercial contract in 2017 and 2018 involved an invertebrate survey of an area of conventional intensively exploited lowland farmland close to the city of Hereford. The primary interests found were saproxylics associated with the veteran hedgerow trees, traditional orchards and small ancient woodlands as well as - somewhat surprisingly - ladybirds associated with ivy on the tree trunks. The hedges were being flailed to within an inch of their survival and the hedge bottoms swamped with agrichemicals and very nutrient-enriched - not very promising countryside for insects at all. Nevertheless, the ladybird list was surprisingly diverse with 17 species detected (Table 1).