Symmetry
I hate to moan, as you know, but it’s not really feeling much like high summer at the moment. Today was cold, windy, and largely wet, with a distinctly autumnal atmosphere, and after bowling around the garden for fifteen minutes … Continued
Willughby’s Leafcutter Bee
I don’t know who Willughby was, but he or she managed to get themselves a truly beautiful bee. Worldwide there are over fifteen hundred species within the genus Megachile, but in the UK we only have seven, and M. willughbiella … Continued
Speed Feeding Champion
The third day of the Alternative Olympic Games came to a thrilling climax this afternoon, with the finals of the 1m Speed Feed (Bees, solitary) competition. As had been predicted by most pundits, this came down to a head-to-head between … Continued
Early warning system
While I knew in theory that butterflies will go into trees to take shelter when bad weather is on its way, this was the first time I’ve ever watched one actually do it. I was snapping a record shot of … Continued
Close encounter
The mini-heatwave that the weather forecast has been promising us arrived today, reminding me that however grumpy I get when it’s too cold or wet for my insect subjects to be on the wing, many of them don’t appreciate it … Continued
Sex and violence
I was watching a Wool Carder noodling through the hedge woundwort, thinking that it was smaller than I remembered, and half-forming the thought that it might be a female, when a second one swooped in and pounced. I think it … Continued