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in there.The garden spiders, Aranaeus diadematus, are starting to get very large and obvious, especially those round the compost bins. We compost everything we can, including kitchen waste, so clouds of fruit flies emerge every time I lift off the lid. Even

150 years. It feeds on the fruits, using its stylet mouthparts to suck out the juices, in autumn moving to the berries of yew, which also grows profusely on the chalk downs.However, during the 1990s Gonocerus was found, first, at Bookham Common

small critters come to warm themselves. And what's this? The compost bin has started to leak fruit flies; the perfect snack for a hungry spider.

see several places where I imagined gangly arms had been thrust through to pilfer our fruit. Humph. Oh well. I re-pegged the nets, did a bit of disgruntled tidying and left.The next week we were back. A glorious day, birds singing, clouds puffing

in Britain.Unlike the sawfly, which feeds on the leaves, the grubs of the picture-wing fly develop in the small berberry fruits. Having seen bushes weighed down with berries in autumn, I've often wondered why the fly has not been more widely seen. A very

of flies emerges.Fruit flies (at least two Drosophila species) feature strongly, which is no surprise given the amount of apple cores, banana skins, melon shells and potato peelings we chuck in each week. Although the adult flies are only 2.5mm long