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, the harlequin ladybird, although they were common enough in the garden during last summer. These are the orange ladybird, Halyzia sedecimguttata.The first time I found this pretty beetle, in a West Sussex woodland, about 30 years ago, I was quite excited

with anyone growing plants for their roots or tubers. Most species, though, are dead wood feeders, and they include lots of very rare species, which only occur in old woodlands, ancient hedgerows and other important wildlife habitats. Their larvae feed

in Dulwich Woods, Beckenham Place Park, and a few other woodland places, but the ones flying past my back door are breeding in long-lost and forgotten subterranean root systems, buried logs and stumps no longer visible on the surface. But every year gardens

I’m afraid I’ve been rather disparaging about fat balls and landscape gardeners again. It all came out at the Kent Wildlife Conference, held on Saturday at the University of Greenwich’s swanky new Medway Campus, down in Chatham.The theme

it's not legal, but I'm not aware of anyone being prosecuted for it.I attended a wildlife gardening conference recently, where one of the speakers, Jan Miller, author of Gardening for Butterflies, Bees and other benificial insects gave a presentation

times a year. Surrounded by evergreen oak woodland it was secluded, quiet and alive with wildlife.In the evenings I was fascinated by the fireflies, much brighter than our glow-worms. This mating pair was alight although unfortunately the flashguns

to me because it’s beautiful and I’d never seen one before. It’s not particularly rare and it doesn’t even eat aphids – sorry gardeners. But it’s recently adapted its habitat and is becoming more widespread. At 4.5-6mm long it’s roughly the same size

(gardeners insert your own reasons here), and, I'm afraid, to bemoan the fact that not enough funding or political clout is given to insect study and education.I'm one of a number of 'international entomologists' who has been invited to blog about their daily

of those from the local Chinese takeaway; I also use them for 'show and tell' sessions. They've found a 'lizardy' thing whilst digging up the end of the garden, and wonder what it is.Inside the chow mein box, curled up in some soil is a tiny newtlet