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, three came along at once.A green-veined white, Pieris napi, was the first to appear, fluttering down to examine the mock orange flowers. This is probably the most widespread of the ‘cabbage’ whites, since it occurs commonly throughout the British Isles

at the honeysuckle flowers. But it took me a few days to realize the bumblebees were different. There were several species, but my eye was caught by the well-groomed buff orange ones. In the UK most of the all-orange bumbles, also sometimes called carder bees

, Hampshire and Sussex when it first appeared in London around 2005.I've now given up noting when I see it, since this is inevitably many times a day. A flash of orange - no it's not a painted lady, it's the tiger. It's not a true day-flying moth, since

of pale, blousy flowers for the last 10 years.The rest of the garden has matured a bit since then, so we can afford a bit of bare wood before we decide what to do next. And, in removing the tangled stems, we uncovered a series of pale opalescent pearls

first found it at Crystal Palace in 2005, and now, there it is. Just the singleton was in the garden, but later the same day there were dozens visiting the raspberry flowers up at the allotment.B. hypnorum is handsome and unmistakable. The thorax is all

in Britain. Although there are about 250 species of hoverfly in the UK, and roughly 100 of them are black and yellow wasp mimics, this one is immediately recognizable by its narrow parallel-sided body shape and the fact that some abdominal segments have two

- is an apt descriptor here), but I've also seen 'hairy-footed bee' and 'flower bee'.Only the males have the feathery feet - the middle pair - but I've never been able to find out what they use them for. The sexes are easy to tell apart without having

for the base, a bumblebee flitted down to investigate the lavender and sage. It did not stay long though. Unfortunately for our photographer, it was doing what bumblebees (and honeybees for that matter) do best - showing precise flower fidelity.Although we

For anyone who thought the cold winter might have been a bit harsh for wildlife, I hope the recent heatwave has been an eye-opener. I’ve certainly never seen so much insect life in April before. The garden has been awash with orange-tips, holly