[pigeonpie]

I seem to have acquired a plague of black aphids in the last 24 hours on all my beans.  I went out to spray them tonight but whilst doing so found something of more concern...
2 Harlequin ladybirds happily procreating.
I have recorded the find and ask others to be vigilant and to record all sightings so that they can help build a better picture of the problem.

http://www.harlequin-survey.org/
 

[mumofstig]

they are very common here but today I saw some of the 'normal' ones as well

[pigeonpie]

I was really torn between squishing them and letting them get on with attacking the blackfly problem.  I opted for the squishing.
They're the first I've seen around here but I gather they are becoming fairly common in the area.  Thankfully we still seem to get a fair few of the good old style ones as well.

[Salmo]

Saw some today near Oundle.

[Comfortably Numb]

Loads of them here too, but we still see lots of the others as well 

[Swing Swang]

We might as well rejoice in the voracious aphid control that they threy are (whilst we lament the lot of the natives).

[cob nut]

We get a lot of both the native & harlequin ladybirds around our garden & lottie.

[Springlands]

We seem to be lucky in Northern Ireland so far - maybe that is why I am seeing plenty of the native ladybirds in my garden but will certainly keep an eye out in future.

[Rampant_Weasel]

spotted one the other day munching on aphids, didnt realise it was a diff variety b4 i saw this post 

[zazen999]

I seem to have acquired a plague of black aphids in the last 24 hours on all my beans.  I went out to spray them tonight but whilst doing so found something of more concern...
2 Harlequin ladybirds happily procreating.
I have recorded the find and ask others to be vigilant and to record all sightings so that they can help build a better picture of the problem.

http://www.harlequin-survey.org/
 

So you squashed the ladybirds that would have eaten your blackfly and then sprayed the blackfly?

You do know that half the problem with the Harlequin Ladybirds is that more native ladybirds were being killed than Harlequins and that was having a worse effect on the native population than the original Harlequins would have had? The general advice now is to just leave them be.

[Totty]

There are loads of aphids on our plot but there is also loads of ladybirds, i say leave the spray, let nature run its course

[pigeonpie]

So you squashed the ladybirds that would have eaten your blackfly and then sprayed the blackfly?

You do know that half the problem with the Harlequin Ladybirds is that more native ladybirds were being killed than Harlequins and that was having a worse effect on the native population than the original Harlequins would have had? The general advice now is to just leave them be.

Sorry, I should have said that I sprayed the black fly with soapy water, nothing more harmful than that (ecological washing up liquid at that).  I also checked that there were no other ladybirds on the plants first. 
I don't use chemicals.  I even leave some brassicas un-netted so that cabbage whites can still lay their eggs.  A garden without insects is not a garden.