I had a lovely time taking some nice pictures of this ladybird last summer, so I was sad to find out that it's an invasive species and as far as the UK Ladybird Survey is concerned, it should be squished on sight and not treated to a photoshoot. Apparently in America it's known as the multicoloured asian lady beetle, which just seems an unnecessarily long name.
But it's not the harlequin's fault that his species is ruthlessly wiping out native ladybirds. He looks after his family, he keeps his shell shiny (if you look close you can see my reflection in the carapace), and I wouldn't be able to bring myself to squish him, even if we do meet again.
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