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I don't really do birds. I'm usually too busy peering down at insects on flowers or running across leaves. Or I'm on hands and knees, bum in the air, turning stones over looking for ground beetles or grubbing at plant roots for weevils

, and my brain just could not cope with the notion that a woodpecker could be up there.I now know (I've looked it up in books) that these glorious birds are after insects in the turf, as well as dead wood, and that ants are a firm favourite. So I

to examine individual bristles on individual legs. So it's no surprise that my key to Drosphila fruit flies is very keen on the number of hairs of the insect's thorax, the colour of its knees and the presence or absence of spurs on its back legs.I must admit

the bees making their cuts with such speed and precision.Despite the depredations of all these insects, the rose goes from strength to strength and gives a drift of hearty flowers each summer.

then pollinate plants such as runner beans and strawberries. Borage also attracts blackfly, which then theoretically leave the other plants alone. Equally, when planted near tomatoes, it's said to attract pollinating insects, increasing yield, as well

the young leaves were added to peoples' sandwiches; it supports at least 149 species of insect and the berries feed more than 23 species of bird; hawthorn is pollinated by dung flies and midges attracted to the mildly unpleasant smell and the fact

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

insects, vegetables and wildlife.You Grow Girl is Canadian, has been going since 2000, and covers pretty much everything.For some reason Austin, Texas seems to teem with garden bloggers - there are at least thirty of them. For a taste of gardening where

they love, so I spaced the plants more widely.Soon, the large bare areas between them started niggling me, and I planted a few compact courgettes in the spaces, along with some Tagetes 'Lemon Gem' to attract beneficial insects such as hoverflies. The adults

quantity of my crops, rather than let the pests have them, but I always try to do this by using barriers and preventative measures, rather than by being a dealer in death. There are exceptions: houseflies and horseflies top the list of insects that I do try