The Ladybird Lament

How many did you see in your garden this summer? For me, the answer is (sadly) just one

- Julian Rollins

For a moment the discovery took me all the way back to childhood. Back then it was always a treat to find a ladybird. But now it’s a rather more bittersweet experience because ladybirds are so much less plentiful than they once were.

Or, at least native ladybirds are less plentiful. Of course, recent decades have seen a steady decline in the numbers of all sorts of insects, and of other invertebrates, but what has been going on with ladybirds is especially worrying.