Posted: Mon Aug 19, 13 2:32 pm Post subject: harlequin ladybirds bite
what is says really ,we have quite a few working hard clearing aphids off the fruit bush and recently i have been bitten by nymph stage ones.
not much of a lump but a sharp hit followed by a rather trippy hour or so.
very odd and not very nice
beware beasts
Kanga
Joined: 22 Aug 2007 Posts: 148 Location: Newcastle upon Tyne
Posted: Mon Aug 19, 13 4:51 pm Post subject:
I was pleased to read this. I wasn't believed some years ago when I said a ladybird had bitten me. (I don't remember any trippy sensation though).
Nick
Joined: 02 Nov 2004 Posts: 34535 Location: Hereford
Posted: Mon Aug 19, 13 5:01 pm Post subject:
Did you have a trippy hour, or was it the 'bird, after feasting on dpack system fluid?
no me ,twas rather odd,sharp small pain in the neck,a stinging for ten mins or so then ,slight unease,shiney bits in the visual,odd skin sensation all over not just the bite ,light headed and a bit wobbly of balance
it passed in about an hour and although the bite still can be felt a couple of days later there was little swelling or visible marks
best way i can describe it is as a bit like henbane without the 24hour coma or nausea
cant recommend either and im a bit worried as to how i will react to another bite .
Adult ordinary ladybirds certainly bite, so not surprising that the nymphs do too. Could it be that you were suffering slightly from shock Dpack? You can feel quite odd with that. Otherwise they must inject some venom to which you are very sensitive.
During the summer of '76 there was an explosion in the number of ladybirds and in some places they flew in great swarms; in Weston Super-Mare, at the end of each day, the shoreline was awash with dead ones and many more were evident in the piles of litter on the promenade They also bit.
Green Rosie
Joined: 13 May 2007 Posts: 10498 Location: Calvados, France
Posted: Tue Aug 20, 13 7:22 am Post subject:
I was just going to add about the ladybird population explosion in '76 Catbaffler. We had plague-like numbers of them in the corn drying barn - I allowed them to run all over me (well, they were only ladybirds after all) and the next day I was covered in bite marks. I hadn't felt them bite and as far as I can remember they didn't itch. Some people suggested they were biting to find something to drink
I seem to recall there was a plague of ladybirds on Southsea beach in '76 said by the local paper to be biting all the holiday makers. Made quite a good story for them. Mind you, if you go on Southsea beach, to my mind that is the least of your worries.
Sorry to hear you have such a sensitivity problem Dpack.
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