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last weekend's fireworks and peering into the deep murky gloom of the pond, there seems nothing about. But suddenly my eye is caught by a flick of yellow. Perched on the end of a leaf is a dung-fly. This was the common yellow dung-fly, Scathophaga

There was magic going on in the garden today. About 3 o'clock in the afternoon, the sun had started to slope down and was giving everything that rich warm autumn glow. Looking out of the top bedroom window, I was admiring the reds, yellows and golds

There's a mouse living in my compost bin. I first saw it one evening the other week, when I added a fresh layer of tomato side shoots and yellowing leaves. It leapt out of the bin and charged through the border. That frog looks just like a mouse, I

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

in the waste below.It's remarkable how much life a compost bin can attract. Books will tell you that a compost heap is one of the best garden features to attract wildlife but, somehow, this 'life' inside the bin can go unnoticed.We gardeners normally only

easily have been in part of the Weald. But the wildlife reflected its slightly more southerly location, the Departement Mayenne between Normandy and the Loire.There were plenty of painted lady and clouded yellow butterflies, the speckled woods were

to the other end of the site will depend exactly on how she views these misunderstood and much-maligned insects.As well as the hornet there are eight species of black and yellow social wasp in Britain. The two most often seen are the common wasp, Vespula

and 1950s, there was a series of sightings of this spectacular insect, which, as time went on, became more frequent.Most black and yellow wasp-like hoverflies bear aphid-eating larvae so beloved of gardeners. Volucella larvae have a much more exotic life

another green shieldbug crawling over the ivy, I felt I could be brazen again.This is Piezoderus lituratus. It’s slightly narrower and more elegant than Palomena, and has a delicate yellow stripe down each side of its shiny body. Those emerging from

To my mind, the asparagus beetle, Crioceris asparagi, is one of our most beautiful insects. The Mondrianesque juxtaposition of its red border, creamy yellow squares and inky blue-black outlining is just astonishing.Although only 5-6mm long, it's a