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. Meadow brown (Maniola jurtina) and speckled wood (Pararge aegeria) were first, and this past weekend saw the arrival of several pairs of gatekeepers (Pyronia tithonus). Even as I write, there are some fluttering around the marjoram, globe thistle

across the dark meadows towards Lower Halstow and the North Kent Swale marshes. My uncle was trying out his new gadget, a portable reel-to-reel tape recorder and he was hanging out of the window with the microphone as these eerie noises drifted over

and widespread, but more an insect of rough flowery grassland, verges, meadows and commons than of domestic gardens. The larvae burrow in plant stems, but only wild flowers so it's never a pest. It's easy to see how this noble-looking beetle got its scientific

. And it's very common, occurring throughout the country in parks, gardens, meadows, woods and forests. It parasitizes a huge range of moth caterpillars, including common garden species like yellow underwing, Noctua pronuba, and lime hawkmoth, Mimas tiliae