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is that it arrived with the decorative plantings used around the car parks and ornamental lakes. Although unlikely to become a pest like its 'vine' relative, the beetle is probably well established in Britain. It's known from at least a half-dozen places, usually

Here's a thing. If a wild animal comes into a garden, it's wildlife. If a wild plant comes in, it's a weed. Now that seems just a bit unfair on our native flora.Admittedly, an animal can be considered a pest, but many are regarded as helpful

similar species, Rhagoletis cerasi, is a major pest of cherries on the European mainland and I'll bet UK cherry growers are keen to know whether it is spreading.I walked past the same bushes at the weekend and my observations now take on a different tone

unjustly) regarded with suspicion and might be on the way to becoming a noxious pest in its own right if it out-competes native UK ladybirds. One wonders what might happen to Aphalara. The science is compelling though, and so far the tiny bug is only known

their bodies at the waist, creating an audible click and jerking them airborne, spinning out of the way as an escape strategy. These supposedly notorious root-crop pests are not common up at the allotment. I don’t think we have enough root crops for them

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

of stairs. Instead of a tight whorl forming the usual globe shape, the helix is stretched out into a point.I'm guessing that no matter how much I go on about snails, most people will regard them as a nuisance and a pest. But maybe this is because we haven

in case I was dangerous, or sizing me up as potential prey.They have slightly more interesting garden 'pests' in Florida. This paper wasp nest was tucked out of the way against the eves, and anyway it was very small.And one day I turned over a few small

-eastern USA, arriving in New York in 1990 and Pennsylvania in 1992.In the USA and Canada it is regarded as a forestry pest because of its damage to conifer seeds and developing cones, especially Douglas fir. Seed destruction rates of 80% have been recorded

inspector to report the discovery of a noxious pest.