Any ideas what these insects are?

[spinningplateslady]

My 3 boys have been suffering with nasty insect bites every time they play in the garden for the past few weeks. This afternoon I have noticed masses of insects burrowing into / hanging on the render on the walls of the house. I'm just wondering whether these horrible little things could be the source of the bites...

They are little black wingless creatures (about 0.5 - 1cm long) with 6 legs. They have bright orange stripes down each side of their bodies. They have pointy tails & seem to be hanging from these tails which are kind of buried in the render on the outside of our house. There seem to be a few empty tail sections still hanging out from the wall... it looks like they have lost their tails / stings (???)

Any ideas???

no they sound horrible! are you in the UK

Not sure without a picture, but they sound like they could be ladybird larvae. The tail sections could be their cast-off skins. Will go and find a pic.

Do they look like this?

FromGirders

Absolutely brilliant - that's exactly what they look like...

So they don't bite??? I guess I don't want to get rid of them...

Thanks so much - hours spent searching the internet this afternoon & you come up with the answer in minutes!

By the way, what are their cast off skins???

It looks like they are kind of burrowed into the wall, hanging from their tail. Some have got more scaley skins & seem to be curled up in a ball...

Must do some research on lifecycles of ladybirds...

As insects grow, they shed their skins which don't grow with them. I think ladybirds have three or four moults before turning into adult ladybirds that we'd recognise. The bits on the wall are probably stuck on rather than burrowed in, so that the ladybirds can wriggle out more easily. A bit like a butterfly from a cocoon.
It is actually known for ladybirds to bite, btw, but only when they've run out of food and are very hungry. I don't think it'll last long, (your plague, I mean) if they're turning into adults they'll be able to fly away to look for food elsewhere.
Bet you don't have many aphids left in your garden.

I've been bitten by an adult ladybird and it was really sore.

[impressed by fromgirders]

(Did a degree in horticulture. Picked up lots of useless pieces of information. Not many transferrable skills though)

would you like to come and live with me? i have a garden sorely in need of your skills but i am unabvle to hire a FT gardener...

That's quite tempting actually, so long as you don't need any diy doing to your house. I'. so booooored of diy. (Just moved house and doing it all up before I re-start cm-ing, but so many people keep askig "why don't i do gardening instead? There's lots of call for it round here". Because who would look after the kids in the Easter and Summer holidays when you all nee d your gardens sorted, that's why!! Sorry, got sidetracked there).
Hmm, wonder if there are business opportunites for "Gardening In Return for Food, Board and Childcare"

well, if dp disappears anytime i'll give you a call to come and live in the commune i will rule create to cope with the children loss

Wow, I've always wondered what 'baby' ladybirds look like

Ah, memories of '76 and the long, hot summer. Those evil innocent little ladybirds can give a very nasty nip when they get hungry enough.

Are you having a commune too? I've been planning one with a friend. We're all going to have seperate houses though (more like little cottages really, perhaps even hobbit-style), but doors will be open all day for communal looking after of children and visiting each other. then we get to close them in the evening when the dh's come in (we don't want them during hte day, they'd get underfoot). Lots of self-sufficiency, chickens and general lentil-weaving.

yy, girders, thats the sort of completely unworkable fantasy im thinking of

saintgeorge, i was born during that summer... end of july. my mum spent most of june and july sat about in her knickers with a bag of frozen peas on her head, she tells me.

and then my first child was born in the next hottest summer since then, 2003. funny huh? (not really, just a poetic coincidence) [waffles endlessly]