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On the weekend of 25/26 October, the RSPB held a Feed the Birds Day, with various events up and down the country. It doesn't yet seem cold enough to worry about putting up seed feeders or fat cakes, but then we're probably more protected from

It's cold, there's snow on the ground, and all is quiet in the garden. But I've just been outside feeding the wildlife. In my case that does not mean putting up nut-filled bird feeders or hanging fat balls, it means tipping the kitchen waste

There's a spider the size of a gardening glove in my compost bin. It obviously gets a good living in there, feeding on the flies, woodlice, beetles and earwigs, the remains of which can be vaguely guessed in its untidy sheet of a web. I wouldn

shieldbugs. Cyphostethus tristriatus is a crisp emerald green, with a striking orange-pink boomerang mark on each wingcase. It feeds on the young cones, but never enough to do any damage to these most vigorous of trees.It’s sometimes called the juniper

in the region of 50 to 55 mm.In insects, small size is sometimes attributed to poor nutrition during the larval stage. Since painted lady caterpillars feed on thistles, food shortage seems unlikely...unless, perhaps, the recent poor weather meant that its

an egg into the acorn, it alsoinjects a cocktail of chemicals that causes the acorn's growth to be interrupted. Then as the grub feeds inside it too secretes chemicals thatalter the normal development of the acorn forcing it to grow into the knopper

that didn't have to be removed were left in place; although few remain, their stumps and fallen logs are still present in the gardens and the rotting subterranean timber is still feeding the stag beetle larvae.The target of the cat's interest and the pig

small picture-winged fly, Rhagoletis meigenii (pictured above), in London's Battersea Park in June 2000. At the time this pretty little insect was thought to feed on the native Berberis vulgaris, but was believed to be extinct in Britain, having been

and climbers, making them appear more hedge-like. Maybe the gatekeeper caterpillars, which feed on grasses like other brown butterflies, prefer a more shaded aspect to feed in.Or it may simply be that gatekeepers spend more of their time perching up high

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