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A fascinating find in the garden late last week - the box bug, Gonocerus acuteangulatus, once regarded as one of the rarest insects in Britain. This medium-sized (about 10 mm) brown leafbug is a smaller, slimmer and slightly more elegant relative

I'm a very hands-on sort of naturalist. If I can, I pick up whatever it is I've found to have a closer look. With insects, getting a closer look is very often a question of grabbing at something that moves very quickly, and only then discovering

The south-facing fence of our garden is covered all over with ivy, and the leaves are prime basking territory for all manner of insects. This last week, the solitary bees have started to reappear in droves. There are very many species all looking a

I'm called to the end of the garden by the 10-year-old. "Daddy, is that a hornet?" she asks, pointing to a big brown insect sitting on a leaf near the swing. What a wonderful thing if it is, I think. But no, it's not a hornet, it's a hornet

gardens are even more wild and overgrown. Since my main interest is in insects, these are obviously going to feature pretty heavily here, but we also get our fair share of birds and beasts through too. A few days ago I noticed that the lilies growing in a

No, it’s not quite time for hibernation yet. Just a bit of sun in the garden and all kinds of intriguing insects are out again. I thought maybe I’d seen the last of this year’s hoverflies, but a drowsy marmalade fly, Episyrphus balteatus

Sunday has been warm enough to sit outside, in a tee-shirt, so it's not surprising that there are still insects flying about. Today it was flies that caught my eye.Episyrphus balteatus is perhaps the commonest and most distinctive hoverfly

I thought my garden was already quite a haven for mammals, birds and insects, but there is always more you can do for them. With this in mind I've just registered to take part in the RSPB Homes for Wildlife scheme. After answering a few brief

Although, yes, technically it is a spider, I’m almost positive that nobody could really be scared of the zebra spider, Salticus scenicus. It lacks all those sinister characteristics that can cause unease among some people — it isn’t black and hairy, it doesn’t have long legs, it ...

of the conference was ‘The Natural History of North West Kent’, which means the Thames Gateway and the urban tendrils sprawling from London.I was speaking on brownfield insects, and made the case that although derelict sites with heaps of bulldozed rubble, may