Several beach guests shared photos of the hundreds of animals on social media that plagued them. “There were not normally many,” said Joyce, assistant manager at Beachclub O. in Noordwijk.
When she opened the umbrellas, there were dozens on the inside. “There were more and more throughout the day. At the entrance there were a lot of flying around, we had ladybugs on our shoulders and guests too. They were everywhere.”
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Some of the guests were shocked, but most responded enthusiastically. Joyce also thought it was ‘a beautiful sight’. “They look so friendly. So cute. When I see them, I think about my grandmother. I used to play with her in the park. Then I counted the dots of the critters.”
Disappointed
She regretted not seeing a single ladybug this morning when she opened the umbrellas again. “It surprised me. And actually I was a little disappointed.”
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Vincent Kalkman of Naturalis explains that there were so many yesterday and today it has nothing to do with the hunger of the animals.
Food shortage
In some years, ladybugs build up a large population, he says. “Then you get very large numbers. And in the places where they live there is a lack of food. They then think: we are hungry, we have to go. Then they sometimes fly en masse.”
Ladybugs can only fly downwind. If that wind is towards the beach, they can end up there. “They come out for a cluttered pool of water. They don’t want to fly above that. So they just drop there. And they can also stop at the beach because they are tired of flying.”
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But they don’t find food on that beach either. “Ladybugs are carnivores. They eat aphids. You sometimes hear that people are bitten. They try everything when they are hungry. And if there is nothing to get anywhere, such as on the beach, they will fly on. washed away by sea water and die a dead death. “
It’s not the first time this has happened, Kalkman says. “This happens more often and with multiple species.” Especially in warm weather, because ladybugs need to warm up before they can move. ‘You see peaks every few years. And now there are also a lot of people on the beach, so you see more of them. “
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