Autumnal Plague

Today we are experiencing a plague of ladybirds.  I counted 12 on and around our living room window and Zoe says that there are more outside on the lawn.

It reminds me of a similar plague in the early summer of 1976.  One sunny morning I had an appointment in Eston and afterwards I walked back over the Eston Hills to Guisborough.  On the way I  came across several plants that were almost completely covered with ladybirds.  But those were bright red; the ones today are a duller orange-brown.

There is even a melanistic one: