Alien ladybirds infected with a sex disease are heading for homes in Cambridgeshire.

Harlequins were first recorded in the UK in 2004. They’re aliens, not a native species, having originated in Asia, migrated to America, and then somehow found their way to Cambridgeshire. Alpha male-style alien ladybirds may be killing off weaker competitors in Cambridgeshire.They’re big, they’re butch, and they like to bonk. Alien ladybirds carrying a virulent sexual disease are fluttering on the wind in Cambridgeshire, and may want to snuggle up in homes. They pose no threat to humans, wildlife experts have explained. They’re larger, tougher and butcher than other ladybirds, and they tend to out compete them, and may perhaps have had a part in the declining population. Ladybirds can be cannibalistic, eating each other’s larvae, for example. Harlequin ladybirds are bossy and tend to lord it over other, smaller, meeker ladybirds,some carry a sexually-transmitted disease called Laboulbeniales, a fungus which causes a spooky-looking outbreak of small yellow spines, making infected ladybirds look like miniature hedgehogs. Experts do not know what impact the disease has, or whether it is fatal, but they believe it may be life-limiting. The invasive harlequins have a better chance of living longer, it is thought, because they are bigger and tougher.The alien invaders have black instead of red wings, and like all ladybirds like to hunker down for the winter inside houses, around boilers, window frames and curtains. There is currently a big survey going on, and people are being asked to log on to www.ladybird-survey.org and help out with information, and give better understanding about ladybirds. more