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academic. Having heard about this invader, which probably arrived about 10 years ago in imported horticultural material, this was the first time I had seen it in south-east London.My interest in this bush was first roused a few years ago when I found a

, the first was earlier this year when I reared one from a larva. They must, in fact, be very common, because the caterpillars are all over the place. These spiky psychedelic toothbrushes are unmistakable, with their four dorsal tufts of bright yellow bristles

and sunned it self on the glossy ivy leaves that cover our south-facing fence. This spring generation develops from caterpillars that fed on ivy, but probably not this clump, since they eat the developing flower buds and we don’t have any here yet. They

When the children first found the caterpillar, they were fascinated and asked me what sort of moth it might turn into. They were amazed when I told them that instead of a moth, it would turn into a sawfly the size of a hornet. Some of the parents

insects (left). They are ichneumons, parasitoid wasps which lay their eggs inside living caterpillars. The hatching grubs then eat the caterpillars alive from the inside. These specimins had chosen a much damper situation under the bark of a pine log

. The speckled wood is a slim elegant creature, with large broad brown wings, and yet the squat green pupa under the frisbee looked wholly other.The speckled wood is unique amongst British butterflies in that it regularly overwinters in both caterpillar

, but with its obvious pale cream coloration it was fooling no one.We usually get two sawflies laying their eggs. Arge pagana is the pale speckled caterpillar that skeletonises whole branches, while Blennocampa phyllocolpa is the small green leaf

wing-tip to wing-tip is striped orange and white and quite pretty under a lens.It had been spreading across Europe from its first discovery in Macedonia in the middle of the 20th century and arrived in the UK in Wimbledon in 2002. I first noticed

completely different foodplants. Butterflies in the spring emergence lay their eggs on holly and their caterpillars feed on the developing buds. When these insects reach adulthood in late-summer they lay their eggs on ivy flower buds. At least

Dulwich). All ichneumons are parasitic, laying their eggs in a wide range of insects, but especially moth and butterfly caterpillars. The venom injected at the same time contains an immunosuppressant, preventing the immune system of the host insect from