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. Insects you'll attract to your garden include buff-tailed and common carder bumblebees, honeybees, hoverflies, comma, painted lady, small tortoishell, speckled wood butterflies and the angel shades, dart and brimstone moths. Some will still be found

Whilst out running in Peckham Rye Park earlier this week I noticed that the leaves of the horse chestnut trees are starting to show pale brown blotching all over. These are caused by the caterpillars of a minute moth, Cameraria ohridella - the horse

Today on a fencepost, I saw the beautiful angular art-deco prize of an angle Shades, Phlogophora meticulosa. This wonderful moth is immediately recognizable and unmistakable, even though its colours vary across a whole spectrum of browns, beiges

the next day.At first I wondered if it was pilfering the guinea pig’s spilled food, but now I think it’s after moths.Although the weather is still warm and comfortable through the evenings, the nights are already drawing in and where before I was working

all over south London, caused by caterpillars of the tiny moth Cameraria ohridella. Sure enough, the maple was growing right next door to a horse-chestnut so heavily attacked that it had browned prematurely for autumn.It turns out that this recent

It's cold, there's snow on the ground, and all is quiet in the garden. But I've just been outside feeding the wildlife. In my case that does not mean putting up nut-filled bird feeders or hanging fat balls, it means tipping the kitchen waste

and dropped to the floor. And yesterday the cats brought in a huge black and grey moth - the old lady, Mormo maura - which fluttered around the kitchen ceiling until rescued.Wednesday also brought the first large cabbage white butterfly of the year. I don

in the long grass and herbage (away from flowers) for moth caterpillars in which to lay its eggs. This is the first time I've seen it in the garden. It sunned itself for a few seconds, then it was off.

is widespread across southern and central England, usually in oak woods, but is scarce or at least seldom seen, probably because it is a well-camouflaged tree-dweller. Apparently it flies at night and sometimes appears in lights used for moth

on the broad leaves, Fallopia is more or less sterile when it comes to wildlife. But this may be about to change. I notice that there are rumours of importing a small but pretty Japanese insect, the psyllid bug Aphalara idatori, to try and control the knotweed