Nine

“What are you going to do for your nine-year thingy?” enquired R yesterday. “Oh, bugger,” I said. “I’d completely forgotten.” And then, “I’m going to go to Trench Wood, and find nine interesting invertebrates.” Several things occur to me about … Continued

Ten-spotted ten-spot

I find 10-spot ladybirds in my garden regularly but infrequently, though I don’t always recognise them immediately. The ones I see here tend to look like small, pale harlequins, and a few years ago I recorded one as such, but … Continued

Carnage

Though it’s one of our smallest ladybirds, at 3.5-4.5mm in length, the 14-spot is a voracious predator of aphids. The swarm of aphids on my yarrow plants seems to have defeated the larger 7-spots and harlequins, which have now abandoned … Continued

Stripy jumper

“Even I have to admit,” said R, looking over my shoulder just now, “that that is quite cute.” Which is especially pleasing, given the way he shuddered when I first showed him my photos on the back screen of the … Continued