To take part in the ladybird survey all schools have to do is register  Registered schools will automatically receive teaching notes and other activity sheets are available on the website. The school survey is part of more than 10,000 Breathing Places Schools registered in all regions of the UK. (Right: 22 spot  ladybird courtesy Mike Bidwell)

It is hoped that the results will identify regional variations in ladybird populations, contributing valuable data to the UK Ladybird Survey, which is run by scientists at three institutions, the Centre for Ecology & Hydrology, the University of Cambridge and Anglia Ruskin University, in collaboration with scientists at the University of Hull.

Dr Helen Roy, (left) UK Ladybird Survey co-ordinator from the Centre for Ecology & Hydrology, said, “The UK Ladybird Survey has been running since the 1960s with the assistance of volunteer entomologists and more recently many members of the public, who have helped track the arrival of the invasive Harlequin ladybird.

"Organisers of the survey expect that finding and recording which species of ladybirds their local environment attracts will give young people the opportunity to discover and contribute to our understanding of ladybirds." (Right: Four spot pine ladybird)

Karen Gregory, BBC Breathing Places Campaign Project Executive said, “This will be a fantastic opportunity for school children to learn more about biodiversity through studying an iconic insect which is immediately familiar to everyone. We’re very excited about the prospect of this survey making a real contribution to providing a lasting legacy to our understanding of the importance of maintaining the variety of life on earth.”

Breathing Places Schools joined forces with the RSPB two years ago and has been working with 40 other conservation and education organisations across the UK to deliver a ‘Do One Thing’ activity each term. BBC Breathing Places Schools decided to offer the Ladybird Survey as its new ‘Do One Thing’ activity as part of its summer of action in the International Year of Biodiversity.

Native ladybirds - a house on fire?
Britain has 45 different species of native ladybird, which play a key role in our ecosystem. 
Many ladybirds are voracious predators of crop and garden pest insects, particularly aphids. 

The UK Ladybird survey has been running since the 1960s but ladybirds have been recorded in the UK for several centuries.

The first confirmed record on the Ladybird Survey database is a thirteen-spot Ladybird (Hippodamia tredecimpunctata) seen in Oxfordshire in 1819.

Thirteen-spots become periodically extinct in the UK and then recolonise. In recent years, they have mainly been found in the south of England (e.g. in the New Forest).



The UK Ladybird Survey passes records to the National Biodiversity Network (NBN - http://www.nbn.org.uk/). Over 94,000 ladybird records are currently freely available on the NBN.

In recent years a new ladybird arrival has been spotted in the UK.

The Harlequin ladybird (left) was introduced to North America in 1988, where it is now the most widespread ladybird species (right) on the continent. It has already invaded much of north-western Europe, and arrived in Britain in summer 2004.

The public has played a key role in monitoring the invasion through the Harlequin Ladybird Survey , which was launched in 2005, and has now received more than 30,000 online records.

Harlequins can eat over 12,000 aphids in a year but also eat non-pest and beneficial insects, including the larvae of other ladybirds. 
(Below: 2 spot ladybird). Want more? Try the Ladybird information pack for prominent UK species.