Teneral
You can see that this is a very fresh dragonfly by the fact that his wings and body are still soft and his colouring’s very pale. During this teneral phase of their lives insects are weak and vulnerable to predation, … Continued
Horrified
posted in: Butterflies, Grasshoppers, Invertebrates, My garden, Orthoptera, Trees, Worcestershire |
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I spent much of the afternoon stalking grasshoppers and crickets around the village. It isn’t fair, really, because they absolutely hate it – Orthoptera are so far down the food chain that almost everyone eats them, so the closer you … Continued
Turned out wet again
“OMG,” I said to R, half way through the day. “I’m going to have to go out in this.” This being a soft but wetting rain, coupled with the kind of thick mist you see around the edges of a … Continued
Bonking beetles
According to Wikipedia, the Common Red Soldier Beetle is commonly known in England as the Hogweed Bonking Beetle – a name which I have heard precisely no-one use, ever. However, it is true that they’re the beetles you most commonly … Continued
Covid tales
Or more accurately, Covidiot tales. On a wet and almost wintry afternoon, R and I decided to go to the garden centre in Evesham to pick up some emergency gardening supplies. It was a strange experience, not least because of … Continued
Scarlet Tiger
This was my most interesting garden discovery today. I haven’t seen any Scarlet Tiger caterpillars since the spring of last year, so I had no reason to expect any adult moths this summer, but today I spotted (no pun intended) … Continued
Gatekeeper
Today was another warm but windy day, with scudding clouds and bright though patchy sunshine. But despite the changeable conditions, the invertebrates couldn’t wait to come out to play after the recent dreary few days, and the garden was humming … Continued
