Thousands of ladybirds blow into Christchurch beach
"Thousands upon thousands" of ladybirds scattered along New Brighton beach on Thursday morning are a mystery of mother nature.
An ecology expert said it was the first time he had heard of anything like it in New Zealand.
South New Brighton's Jolene Hunter said she discovered the ladybirds lined "as far as I could see" amongst sticks along New Brighton beach's high tide line.
"They're all dead now. I walk my dog on the beach, I saw them yesterday too.
"It's stretched along that same high tide mark.
"There were thousands, possibly millions.
"We walked 20 minutes up and back again and they were all along there," Hunter said.
Lincoln University Professor of Ecology Steve Wratten had not heard of anything like it happening in New Zealand before.
The bugs, he said, were Eleven-spotted ladybirds common in agriculture and gardens.
"They've been blown out to sea by the northwesterly and they've been brought back in by the tide.
Written by Nick Truebridge. First appeared on Stuff.co.nz.
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