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, with bright red legs and a menacing pointed tail. It could only be one thing: the spectacularly intimidating, yet bizarrely and intriguingly named Pimpla hypochondriaca.If there were any insect that deserved to have an extraordinary English name given to it

chestnut scale insects, Pulvinaria regalis (pictured above). These strange insects can be quite unsightly on the bark of infested trees. In this case they've flaked away, leaving pale dusky echoes. They've probably been mopped up by the larvae of the badly

stercoraria. It's scientific name means, rather unsurprisingly 'dung-eating dung-inhabiter' and it's one of those insects that is very easy to overlook in the garden. In a grazing meadow they are obvious and multitudinous insects, speckling the fresh cow pats

It’s always fascinating, and stimulating, when people ask me to identify insects they’ve found in their gardens. On Monday I was stopped by one of the teachers at six-year-old’s school and shown an image of a brightly coloured moth on his phone. I

-like-bugs-any-bugs-at-all sort of detached scientific curiosity. There is a bit of that. But mostly, it is because if we have a good year for wasps, we also have a good year for so many other insects. It’s all tied in to their seasonal emergence behaviour.Unlike bees, which can

I've always been rather sceptical about the benefits of bug boxes, ladybird and lacewing hotels and other artificial constructions marketed to improve the roosting conditions for helpful insects in the garden. I was once given a solar-powered insect

2007 will be remembered as a very good year for wasps. But before people start complaining about their vicious stings and bad tempers, I must point out that wasps are actually our friends. After birds and spiders, they are the most important insect

wingspan is quoted as up to 75 mm across. Even though I caught the diminutive Horniman specimen in my hands, it is virtually impossible to judge insect size with any degree of accuracy unless you have a ruler to hand. I guess its span was something

.I had quite happily (and rather pompously I’m sorry to say) stated that these lovely insects were never a problem in the garden, because, although they are sap suckers, they prefer wild flowers to cultivated plants. Boy did I get that wrong. I was given

Muehlenbeckia complexa that now threatens to engulf the fire-escape. It's a great place to watch insects sunning themselves on the leaves, but ne'er one ladybird larva have I seen until now.  On the other side of the fence, there is a fine wilderness of bramble