Transverse Ladybird at Mystery Bay, NSW
Identification history
| Harmonia conformis | 5 Dec 2019 | LocalFlowers |
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User's notes
Millions and millions washed up in the high tide line on the beach today amongst the ash from the fires - mostly dead but a few were alive.
4 comments
JackieMiles
wrote:
6 Dec 2019
There are also a couple of Hippodamia variegata on the left hand side of the 1st photo. These are the two lady beetle species we are encountering everywhere (on plants in modest numbers) at the moment. I don't think anyone would think of lady beetles first up as casualties of a bushfire - interesting.
LocalFlowers
wrote:
6 Dec 2019
Thats great info Jackie thank you - I wonder why this would happen. It must be linked to how the breed perhaps? As not really many other insects in the mix, just millions of these all up and down the beach...... and the beach is over 50kms from the fire - maybe closer to 100 - but the tide mark is filled with ash and the water is as well. This is what made us assume the bushfire was what killed them as they were in amongst the ash.
JackieMiles
wrote:
6 Dec 2019
Yeah, dunno why they would get caught up particularly. Maybe because they are capable of flying to escape the fire, but then not actually strong enough flyers to get away, so they got caught up in the plume of hot air and dumped out to sea, then carried south on the current - purest speculation. Bigger insects might have been more capable of escape, and less robustly built ones would have got smashed up in the water and not be identifiable in the tideline.
Location information
- Coordinates 150.135881-36.303147
- Altitude 3.4m
- Places Mystery Bay, NSW
Sighting information
- 1000 Abundance
- 5 Dec 2019 08:39 AM Recorded on
- LocalFlowers Recorded by
Species information
- Coccinella transversalis Scientific name
- Transverse Ladybird Common name
- Not Sensitive
- Local native
- Non-Invasive
- Up to 1644.6m Recorded at altitude
- Machine learning
- External link More information
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Synonyms
Coccinella contempta Coccinella repanda
