I noticed a decoratively marked black-and-white pollinator, studiously visiting flowers on our lavender bushes last week. I had not seen one of these unusually marked insects before, but guessed that it might be a solitary bee. Continue reading “Being there: The diversity of solitary bees”
I seldom see ladybirds nowadays, so I was pleased when I noticed this pair of ladybirds when I was doing some planting in the veggie patch. They were rapidly twirling and whirling as they made the way up and down the stalks. Oh good, I thought, they might munch some of the aphids, but I just hope they are not ladybirds of the invasive alien kind. Continue reading “Ladybirds: Not a bird but a beetle”
A large and beautifully marked Oleander Hawk-moth, photographed on a wall in our garden two years ago. I assume that it laid the small green eggs visible on the wall below it. Continue reading “Weekly Photo Find: Oleander Hawk-moth”
This week’s find is a photo of one of a range of colourful foam grasshoppers that occur in Africa. If threatened, foam grasshoppers can produce a toxic foam that can be fatal to even a large animal that is foolish enough to eat one. Continue reading “Weekly Photo Find: Colourfully toxic grasshopper”
letting nature back in 