Green Shield Bug takin' a ride!

Bethany spotted it first. A beautiful Green Shield Bug on Mark's hat! He'd just come in from work and was leaning down to get something. She alerted me to it and I was thrilled to find it perched quite happily on the peak of his cap. I put my finger in front of it and it clumsily walked towards it.

Green Shield Bugs are my absolute favourite insect so far, closely followed by Bloody-Nosed Bettles, oh and Dragonflies... not forgetting Click Beetles,,, anyway. I love the way they walk across my hand, their red legs moving slowly and methodically. Their "feet" feel sticky. They're just lovely.

They're also called Stink Bugs because they can produce a very offensive odour when disturbed or handled, but I've never experienced it. They seem very cool, calm and collected, focused on getting somewhere... but in their own time. They won't be rushed.

I always used to think Shield Bugs were a type of beetle, but apparently they belong to a different group of insects; the Hemiptera.Well, you learn something new every day.


I love their uniformity - the markings down the sides towards the backs and the perfectly formed shield shape, and the colour.. so vivid! Give me a stink bug anyday.

Soldier, Soldier

My eldest daughter came running into the kitchen whilst I was tidying up "Mummy, a bug, a bug!".

I dutifully collected my glass tumbler and leaflet about a child-friendly local attraction and went into the conservatory to find a lost beetle wandering aimlessly around on the wooden floor.

Now, it may seem a little strange, but I always feel a bit sorry for lost bugs. The world is a big place and it takes no time at all for a flying insect to find itself in a totally unsuitable enivironment, usually being swatted away or squashed by a human hand.

The beetle was a Soldier Beetle, but I wasn't sure which one. Such is my curiosity level when it comes to critters, I had to at least try to find out which one. The black spot on the back of its thorax confirmed that it was in fact Cantharis rustica. Not that it actually made any difference. It just made me feel like I'd completed a job properly (and that's a rare feeling when you're a working mum with two children).

Soldier Beetles are so called because of their red and black colouring which reminds some (very old) people of the old British Army Uniform from the 1800s. 

I can imagine they are pretty menacing if you're an aphid (or a small child I guess) as they are carnivorous creatures, who enjoy feasting on any insects, but you'll often find the adults hanging around flower beds as they tend to target insects that feed on flowers. Perhaps Soldier Beetles have a sweet tooth (or sweet mandible - you know what I mean).

Small but perfectly formed

Planting up Petunias and Dianthus in my lovely sunny garden this afternoon, a little white flash caught my eye and landed on the fence in front of me. This little stunner, known as the T-Moth or Morning-glory Plume Moth stayed where it was very obediently whilst I ran to grab my camera.

It looks as though it's making the effort to stand up and be noticed. It's wings straight out to the side, it seems to say "Look at me, check out my perfect angles. Aren't I just gorgeous?"

It's so easy ignore the little things that pass you by every day, but in the bug world, take a closer look and you will always find perfection and beauty even in the smallest and most abundant creatures.

This tiny this little moth is just beautiful. Not your standard moth shape, white or cream in colour, Emmelina Monodactyla has probably been mistaken for a piece of straw more times than it has been recognised as a moth! It might be classed as common, but how often have you actually seen one? Most probably die before a human claps eyes on it.

They fly all year round (except the depths of winter) and are abundant in the UK, so if you've never seen one, keep your eyes peeled!

What's it all about?

Maybe I should explain why I bothered to start this blog in the first place. I've always loved spending time in my garden looking for insects, gardening, tracking in the snow, anything really, but with time at a premium with a young family I've found it difficult to enjoy quality time away from the hustle and bustle, somewhere quiet and peaceful, surrounded by nature.

I think every human being needs to spend regular quality time out and about, amongst nature, but it's easier said than done.

However, now the girls are growing up and my little one is going to PROPER school in a few months time :(, I reckon I might be able to snatch a little more time here and there.

I've never recorded the species I've seen, apart from in my head, but that's not a lot of use to anyone and I'd like to make "Nature" more of a hobby, so I've just started my first book of records and it's really exciting!! 

My Bit of Peace and Quiet

I've always fed the birds in my garden and at the moment I'm trying to cater for every species I can think of and probably spending far too much money on it. 

Today, I compiled my first proper list of all the birds species that have honoured me with visits to our garden over the last 11 years (well those that I've seen anyway). 

Along with the usual Blue Tits, Sparrows and Blackbirds, I've also seen a Kingfisher diving for small fry in our pond, a Green Woodpecker pecking up insects from amongst the grass and this year, after much persistence with Niger Seed, we've finally seen Goldfinches!

My garden is approx 60ft length by 30ft wide and it has a little "rill"; a little stretch of water a couple of metres long by about a foot or two wide. It was added as a replacement for a 5ft deep pond which was filled in when I realised that having little ones running around, finding their feet did not really sit well with a 5ft deep pond.

I loved that pond and was sad to see it go. When we emptied it we found 72 frogs and countless invertebrates and waterlife. Really sad, but at the end of the day, the children's safety has to come first. I'm hoping to build another pond in a few years time.

Anyway, the rill is brilliant. It sits just waist height from the ground behind a pile of sleepers and is perfect for the kids. It's only 20-30cm deep and they stick their hands in to fish out frogs and snails and dragonfly larvae. I grab pieces of pondweed and pull it apart carefully to find any living things and put them back in the water. Last year we had 8 newts; 5 male and 3 female, and later in the year we found Newtlets which was such a thrill. They're back again this year!

I've managed to keep the garden a suitable place for wildlife (i.e. unkempt and planted with bug and butterfly temptations) due to having a gardener husband whose idea of a relaxing weekend is NOT doing the garden! I have a lovely pile of rotting wood and leaves, rocks in the borders, insect houses, grass areas and dense (weedy) areas, stinging nettle patches and a messy garden shed.

I'm growing Rudbeckia and Echinacea from seed this year to try to attract more flying beauties to my garden. I'll let you know how that goes!

A right royal moth!

Yesterday was the Royal Wedding of Prince William and Kate Middleton, now the Duke & Duchess of Cambridge. We were planning on a chilled out day round at my Mum and Dad's house with all the family, but it didn't turn out that way.

The day before, I had an email at work from my sister, Tracey, to tell me that Dad was ill with Gastric Flu and the day had been cancelled.

I should have just said "Oh no, what a shame" and we could have had a quiet one at home, but to be honest, on a day like that you want to be around people, so I offered to do it at mine instead! Cue racing round the shops, spending, phoning, baking for the next 24hrs. I woke at 6am on the Wedding day and didn't stop until 8:30pm, but it was a great day.

The dress, the ring that nearly didn't go on Kate's finger, our future King taking his new wife for a spin in an old Aston Martin - it was great. We had a laugh with all our friends, neighbours and family and it was well worth all the effort.

And then... just to top the day off for me, my four year old daughter, Holly, brought in an egg cup with her hand over the end. "Look what I've found Mummy" and she took her hand away and there was the most beautiful moth. Ant (male, 34years old) shrieked like a girl and I got the Insect book out, but I couldn't pinpoint it.

I took a picture and started a new thread on wildaboutbritain.co.uk (which is fab by the way), and sure enough a Knight Grand Cross of the Wild Empire, by the name of Aeshna (actually, maybe it was a dame) told me that this lovely creature was called an Angle-Shades Moth. One more to add to my list!