There have been 3500 species of coccinellid described worldwide but until recently only 43 were considered as resident in Britain.

The herbivorous Bryony ladybird, Epilachna argus, and the small inconspicuous hairy ladybirds Rhyzobius chrysomeloides and R. lophanthae, are recent additions but none have attracted as much attention as the Harlequin ladybird, Harmonia axyridis, first encountered in 2004.

Of the 46 ladybird species now found in Britain only 26 are readily recognisable as ladybirds.

A ladybird identification sheet (163Kb) and a ladybird larvae identification sheet (290Kb) are available in PDF format.