I noticed today that one of my struggling garden plants is absolutely covered in bugs. I have no idea if those two things are related (we had a massive drought), but I wanted to find out what these little dudes are, and whether they’re friend or foe. Any thoughts?
Edited to add: located in western Europe.
Check into your regional species of ladybird beetle/ladybug - these look similar to Chilicorus but aren’t the kind around us.
We’re not huge fans of the friend/foe dynamic, though it has its uses conceptually. We think a better question would be “what role do they play”, as it opens up far more avenues of discovery and management. It might be a species that can do damage in our gardens, but it might also be a food source for a specific other species that you’d like to see more of.
