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that there are so many UK travellers roaring over the continent. And it is no surprise to discover ‘new’ European mainland insects arriving back with them into Britain.The rosemary leaf beetle, Chrysolina americana, was first found in the UK in a Kitchen in Disley

.In the meantime, hungry birds will make short work of seedheads and do a much better job of finding slug and snail eggs than I ever could. The frogs will bed down in their hibernaculum and among leaf piles, and the mouse, worms, slugs and beetles will stay warm

for the lifecycles of frogs, dragonflies and water beetles, and will also make it easier for creatures like hedgehogs and birds to bathe. Deeper areas (up to 1m) are essential too, as frogs overwinter in the muddy depths, breathing through their skin.The following

queen buff-tailed bumblebee, was examining the compost heap; I guess she was searching out a suitable hibernation site. Every now and then something else would buzz past: rosemary leaf beetles, green shieldbugs and ladybirds were all very active

been chewed.My interest in dead sycamores is in the insects associated with them. There are a whole series of rare beetles that feed on the black soot-like spores of the fungus. The largest is a whopping 4.5 mm long. Next time I pass I'll have to make

over from Europe.This is actually the second Harmonia to arrive 'new' to Britain. The cream-streaked ladybird, H. quadripunctata appeared in the early 1940s, and although it too is a large and obvious beetle, its spread was slower and caused far less

in there. There are no skaters. They were usually the first insects to arrive and we used to have a squadron of them zooming over the surface. This bunch took advantage of a drowning spider. And there are no boatmen or beetles yet either. But Saturday saw

pests for one blog; if we start on lily beetles or capsid bugs then I'll only get depressed.

and examine the gnarled and wrinkled bark at the very base of the trunk. Sure enough, sheltering in the crannies there, are several specimens of a very pretty weevil, Dorytomus ictor. No English name for this little (4.5mm) beetle, even though

, the harlequin ladybird, although they were common enough in the garden during last summer. These are the orange ladybird, Halyzia sedecimguttata.The first time I found this pretty beetle, in a West Sussex woodland, about 30 years ago, I was quite excited