Rare ladybird recorded in the New Forest is a UK first | UK News

A “new” ladybird species has been recorded in the UK for the first time following the hot weather over the summer.

Prof Russell Wynn, director of Wild New Forest, said the Little Arboreal Ladybirds had been found in moth traps across the New Forest but “there were no confirmed British Records prior to this influx”.

They normally live in France and continental Europe but have made the trip across the English Channel to settle in Southampton and the New Forest, Prof Wynn said.

He added that the UK Species Inventory would now recognise them as new to Britain.

Prof Wynn, who also chairs the New Forest Biodiversity Forum, said the hot weather this year meant it had been tough for some of the wetland animals but “it’s been a good year for many of the insects, ladybirds included”.

He said this was one of many species of winged insect that had colonised southern England because of warming temperatures.

“There’s lots of evidence of moths and butterflies moving north and gradually colonising,” Prof Wynn said.

The New Forest is home to ancient woodland, fens, heaths and bogs, making it a diverse habitat.

“The quality of the habitat in the new forest and the work we’re doing to expand and restore those habitats, make us a good landing point for species that are hopping across the channel and looking for a decent habitat to colonise.” Prof Wynn said.

The Wild New Forest is one of the teams involved in the Species Survival Fund (SSF) which has seen groups working across about 24 sites in the national park working on nature reservation.

Prof Wynn said after doing an ecological survey in one site he found 13 Spot Ladybird species in the area for first time in 20 years.

“It’s nationally pretty scarce and good to record it back in the New Forest and good to record it in a site where we’re going to be doing some wetland creation work to expand the area of wetland habitat, so the future of the species at that site is looking good as they’ll be a nice little pond complex there next year,” he said.

As well as this the Hippodamia variegata, known as the Adonis ladybird have been seen in drier parts of the forest.

“We are in a period of flux with our biodiversity because of climate change and so if we can provide a home for species that are naturally colonising and moving north then I think that’s a positive thing because they’re going to be the species that are going to thrive in the coming decades as temperatures continue to increase,” Prof Wynn said.

He wants to encourage people to embrace the new species, and take more time in the forest, paying attention to the estimated 20,000 species of animal plants and fungi in the area.

“If you do you’ll be rewarded with some of these little gems,” he said.

“The ones that are arriving now are probably going to be the species that are dominant in the coming decades and centuries, so we should certainly welcome them because they’re going to be what’s maintaining our biodiversity and making sure that we’ve still got wildlife to look at in 100 years.”