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In spring and summer, pollen beetles fly in from nearby oilseed rape crops to gather in open flowers where they feed on ripe pollen. Mostly, the beetles do little harm although occasionally they may nibble into unopened flower buds and damage

and more flower stems. Not all of the flowers are long, elegant show-bench blooms with super-straight stems, but I don't really care, they smell just as fabulous on the plant as in the house. Interestingly, they've not been troubled by pollen beetles

The mint leaf beetle, Chrysolina herbacea is a native, iridescent green beetle that feeds on the leaves of the mint family in the south of the UK. Both the adults and their fat, black larvae feast on the foliage.Holes in leaves, made by iridescent

"So what are these things on my lavender?" said the complete stranger, plonking down a jam jar full of beetles on the table. Ordinarily I would have been pleased, but slightly surprised, to be accosted like this, but Saturday 17th May was open

Of the leaf beetle family, flea beetles are small, jumping insects, which feed mainly on root vegetable crops and brassicas.

It was getting dark, the cat was skulking after something in the shadows around the hutch and the guinea pig was squealing its head off. Something sinister on the patio? No, just another stag beetle.I often say how privileged I feel to have

It's always nice to be shown a 'find' by an excited child, so when I was told of a bright green iridescent beetle found in a neighbour's garden I could hardly wait to see what it was.As it turns out, it was Oedemera nobilis. It's very common

, it was the woodworm beetles indoors that fascinated me most. Technically they weren't in the garden, but they were so impressive that I can't resist going on about them. They were, after all, Britain's largest and most sinister woodworm — the death

down into. We've only been here a couple of hours when someone spots a huge black beetle crawling up the wall--the bloody nose beetle Timarcha tenebricosa, so called for the reflex bleeding of bitter red fluid from it's mouth if picked up. A great

Stag beetles lay eggs underground near rotting wood. The larvae of these insects live in the wood for up to five years, before pupating to become adults. Help protect this endangered species by making a simple habitat for them.BucketBark chippings