Talk:Asian lady beetle

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[edit] Personal Experience

A bit off-topic, although possibly interesting to some...These beetles are common in central Ohio where I went to college. They are commonly known on campus as "Evil Lady-Bugs" and most definitely swarm entire dormitories and quads and are seen as heavy nuisances. My roommate and I had a problem when the exhaust fan in the window, which was covered in duct tape to prevent their entry, would still let them in. They would travel around the edges of the screen, through the center of the fan (one could occasionally hear them smacking the blades), eventually to attempt to burrow under the duct-tape into the warm room. The adhesive, however, proved to strong for an individual beetle, however, due to the swarming nature of these insects, the next would usually try to burrow under the previous beetle. We then had trails of lady-beetles coming into the dorm-room through the fan under the legs of their comrades. They will do ANYTHING to get indoors (nice piece of evolution Miss Nature...) which gives them the pest status. If possible, as it's starting to get cold, I'll attempt to get a nice original picture of this swarming nature...do you think the community would like that?

[edit] Variety of Shell Patterns

There is a very nice image showing the wide variety of shell patterns that give this ladybird its name available at various places on the Web (same basic image, viz: http://www.wildlifetrust.org.uk/cheshire/news_ladybird.htm and http://web.apu.ac.uk/appsci/lifesci/lifestaff/harlequin_01.htm). I have included the first (the best link IMO) in the External Links section, but would like to use the image directly. I have no idea as to the provenance of this image (Googling wasn't very revealing as to the original source), but am attempting to find out. In the meantime, maybe someone who knows the rules for image linking better than I would like to decide if it is OK to attach this image to the article. Xpi6 11:15, 27 December 2005 (UTC)

We're trying to reduce non-free images down to the bare minimum (unique historical events, etc), and these would be supplementary, not the only image in existence. One thing you can do is to email the organization and ask them if they would be willing to license a copy under, for instance, {{CC-by}} (don't simply ask for permission to use! we need them to use a license that has all the terms spelled out). Since the Wildlife Trust wants to get the word out, and WP is in the top 30 of all websites for traffic, the increased visibility should be a pretty good incentive for them. Wikipedia:Boilerplate request for permission has form letters you can work from. Good luck! Stan 14:03, 27 December 2005 (UTC)