W W G 01233 332621 FRIENDLY GARDEN INSECTS

CINNABAR MOTH 

quite common in the British Isles and flies at dawn and the early evening as well as at night. There is one generation per year, appearing from May to July. It usually rests during the middle of the day on low vegetation, but flutters off if disturbed, showing its bright colours which make it easy to spot. The red patches on its black fore-wings and the all red hind-wings give rise to the name - coming from the red mineral, cinnabar. The bright colour is also a warning to predators that it is one of the most poisonous insects around.

After mating the eggs are laid on Ragwort and related plants - but Ragwort is the main food source. The toxins in the leaves do not harm the caterpillars, but protect them, making them poisonous and unpleasent tasting. Other plants sometimes eaten are Groundsel & Coltsfoot. The caterpillars are also cannabalistic which is not always caused by a lack of food, although a large infestation can strip the plants of their foliage. They have bright yellow and black stripes running around their slightly hairy body and can reach about 30mm in length.

Although native to Europe and central Asia, it has been introduced to North America, Australia and New Zealand as a bio control for Ragwort

 BUMBLE BEE ; Bombus sp

Bumblebees require a supply of pollen and nectar from spring to autumn so a succession of flowering plants in the garden will help them through their year.

In March as the weather warms up the queen emerges to start a new colony

She lays about six eggs in a ball of nectar and wax, adding to it as the hatched grubs feed and grow. These emerge as workers (females) a few days later, they begin to collect pollen and nectar to feed the grubs of the eggs the queen continues to lay. At the height of summer the nest is about 120mm in diameter and the queen begins to lay eggs which will become drones (males) and new queens for the next year.

Red admiral butterfly (Vanessa atalanta)

The red admiral is a familiar butterfly, and is easy to identify thanks to its striking patterning; the black forewings feature prominent red bars and white spots. The undersides of the hindwings are delicately patterned with brown and black , which provides excellent camouflage when this butterfly is roosting on tree trunks . The caterpillar grows to 3.5 cm in length, and occurs in a number of forms of varying colour. Dark forms are greyish-black, and have black spines and yellow patches along each side. Various pale forms also occur; they are either green or yellowish with pale spines and black markings.

The larva of the Red admiral feeds on Nettles, they tend to be fairly solitary in this stage of their development. For defensive purposes they use silk to close a leaf which they can then feed on in relative safety.

The adults emerge after 2-3 weeks and are obligingly fond of Buddleja, The Butterfly Bush.

 FROG (COMMON) : Rana temporaria

Tailless amphibian - Smooth skin

Tends to jump not walk

The most consistent markings are the dark patch behind the eye and the strong barring on the hind limbs.

Length: 6 - 9 cm

They prefer to be in cool, moist conditions under dense herbaceous foliage where they prey on invertebrates like slugs, snails, worms and insects, trapping them with their long, sticky tongues. This makes them a garden friend as anything which reduces the slug and snail population is most welcome. Apart from during the breeding season they are found in gardens, open fields and in woods, coming to bodies of shallow water in the spring to find a mate. They do not search for food in water, and do not feed during the mating period. In the food chain, frogs form part of the diet of birds such as herons, foxes and other hunting mammals - domestic cats can be a problem for them.

 CENTIPEDE / Lithobius forficatus

They usually have between 30 and 80 legs with one pair attached on most of their body segments. The first pair of legs is modified into poisonous fangs.

The fangs are used to inject a poison which immobilises the victim allowing the jaws to macerate the body and the fluids to be extracted.

They are totally carnivorous, feeding on live insects and other small animals, they do not damage plants.  A natural predator of vine weevil eggs and grubs.

A Centipede  may bite if hurt /crushed, causing some pain and swelling.

 DRAGON FLY (COMMON DARTER) /Sympetrum striolatum

The Common Darter Dragonfly is one of the shorter species of dragonfly found in the British Isles.

Usually spotted between mid June and October, often basking on a warm surface.

The female has a yellow-brown abdomen and is fairly uniform in girth along its length.

The male has a red abdomen with a narrowing in the middle like the shape of a dart. Hence their name - Darter.

The wingspan is about 55mm.

The adults feed on smaller insects such as the midges.

They breed in still ponds and sheltered lakes.

 EARTHWORM

Earthworms are great for soil. They speed up decomposition by consuming lots of dead plant material, and their burrows help aerate the soil and let water through easily.  Worm casts (faeces) are rich in recycled plant nutrients that help to maintain soil fertility.

At least 25 native species of earthworm live in the British Isles

The lob worm, Lumbricus terrestris, is Britain's largest earthworm. The biggest individuals can be up to 35cm long when moving. They live in deep vertical burrows in the soil and can anchor themselves by broadening their tail to grip the sides of the burrow. 

Lob worms emerge at night to feed on fallen leaves and other decaying plant material. There can be populations of 20 to 40 worms per square metre in an average garden lawn.

 Garden Spider / Araneus diadematus

There are about 600 species of spider in the British Isles, all of which are carnivores.

The Garden or Orb Spider is the one which spins the large vertical web often highlighted by mists or morning dew.

The female is bigger than the male, and with a larger abdomen in proportion to her body.

Their colour can range from almost black to pale ginger

 Hover Fly

Hoverflies, sometimes called flower flies or syrphid flies

Hover Flies ( known in America as Flower Flies ) belong to a large family of small to big flies. They are true flies or Diptera, with only one pair of wings in the Family Syrphidae. ( Wasps and bees have two pairs ).

Many species of hoverfly larvae prey upon pest insects, including  aphids and the leafhoppers. Therefore they are seen in biocontrol as a natural means of reducing the levels of pests.

Gardeners, therefore, will sometimes use companion plants to attract hoverflies. Those reputed to do so include alyssum,Iberis umbellata, statice, buckwheat,chamomile, parsley, and yarrow.

 Ladybird / Coccinella

named after the Virgin Mary (Our Lady's Bird) - the red colour is said to represent the red cloak, worn by Mary in old paintings, the seven spots are for the seven joys and seven sorrows.

Ladybird are predatory - eating sap-sucking plant pests, particularly aphids.

If attacked they can secrete unpleasant oils from joints in their legs which deters ants and birds from eating them.

 Ground Beetle / Carabidae

There are about 20,000 species of Carabids in the world, and about 340 in the British Isles.

Most are shiny, blackish brown with some having a metallic sheen. They have well developed mandibles and adults and larvae are both carniverous,  They spend most of their time on or under the ground and hunt mainly at night.
Ground beetles are not known to bite people.

Both adults and larvae are beneficial because they feed on larvae of harmful insects and are an important part of the natural animal population in turf, pasture, and crop land.

Wren / Troglodytes troglodytes

The wren is a tiny brown bird, although it is heavier, less slim, than the even smaller goldcrest. It is dumpy, almost rounded, with a fine bill, quite long legs and toes, very short round wings and a short, narrow tail which is sometimes cocked up vertically. For such a small bird it has a remarkably loud voice. It is the commonest UK breeding bird, although it suffers declines during prolonged, severely cold winters.

main diet : Insects and spiders

 Predator Mites

Appearance
Phytoseiulus persimilis are orange to red in color, 0.5 mm in length, and look very similar to spider mites. To differentiate between the two, predatory mites are shinier, lack spots, and their eggs are twice as large as those of spider mites.

Female mites lay approximately 60 eggs during their short life. Eggs hatch within 2-3 days and go through a larval and nymph stage before becoming adults. The length of development into adult mites varies and is directly influenced by temperature. In cooler temperatures around 60 degrees F, development can last up to 25 days, half of the mite's entire life. In warmer temperatures around 85 degrees F, development can take as little as 5 days. The average lifespan of Phytoseiulus persimilis is 50 days.

Phytoseiulus persimilis have extensions of their mouth that they use to attack and kill their prey. They are constantly on the move, seeking out prey, and will only stop in order to feed. This particular type of mite functions best with dense foliage that allows them to easily move from one plant to another. These mites are capable of eating up to 20 mites or eggs in one day. They are considered the most voracious and best biological control for spider mites.

 Goldfinch / Carduelis carduelis

Their main food sources are seeds from thistles, burdock, dondelion and knapweeeds.

Goldfinches are easily identified by their striking colours; red, black and white on the head and black and gold in the wings. Juvenile birds have a streaked brown head but the broad gold stripe through the black wings is already obvious. The wing pattern is so vivid that many birdwatchers don't realise that the Goldfinch has a white rump.

Breeds and winters wherever there are weeds, especially thistles, on wasteground, hedgerows and areas of scrub.

 Honeybee / Apis mellifera mellifera

The bodies of bees are divided into head, thorax and abdomen, with three pairs of legs and two pairs of wings on the thorax. The fore and hind wings on each side are linked by hooks and grooves so that they move together in flight.

A queen bee may live from two to five years and, except for a short period at the end of her life when one of her daughters takes over the colony, she is the only egg-laying female. All the members of the colony, whether drones or workers, are her offspring. She spends all her time laying eggs, perhaps up to 1500 a day, each one being placed in a wax cell made by the workers. She cannot feed herself and wherever she goes in the hive the nearest workers turn towards her, lick her body and feed her by regurgitating a special secretion of their salivary glands, called "royal jelly", on to their probosces from which the queen can absorb it.

The foraging workers collect nectar from the nectaries of flowers. The nectar is drawn off from the nectaries by the long labium. It is pumped up and swallowed into the honey sac, a region of the gut from which it can be regurgitated on reaching the hive.

 Trichgramma wasps

There are numerous species of Trichogramma wasps that attack the eggs of over 200 species of moths and butterflies. These almost microscopic wasps (0.5 mm; 1/50 inch) are very important in preventing crop damage because they kill their hosts before the insects can cause plant damage. The female Trichogramma lays an egg within a recently laid host egg, and as the wasp larva develops, the host egg turns black. Each female parasitizes about 100 eggs and may also destroy additional eggs by host feeding. The short life cycle of 8-10 days allows the wasp population to increase rapidly. These wasps are harmless to people, animals, and plants. Although Trichogramma occur naturally throughout the United States, they usually do not occur in high enough numbers to be effective at suppresing pest populations.