Harlequin ladybirds have been declared the UK’s fastest invading species after reaching almost every corner of the country in just a decade.
The cannibalistic ladybirds were first realised to have reached the UK in 2004 when they were seen in Essex and have since spread as far afield as the tip of Cornwall and the Shetland Islands, making it the fastest alien invasion of the UK on record.
Grey squirrels, American mink, ring-necked parakeets and muntjac deer are advancing at a rate far behind them.
Scientists monitoring the spread of the voracious harlequin, which will prey on native ladybirds, said the warnings when it first arrived that it would colonise the country rapidly and was the world’s “most invasive ladybird” have proved correct.
The Guardian: Harlequin ladybirds declared UK's fastest invading species
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