Garden Insects
Seeing it is National Insect Week I thought I’d best write something about the insects in the garden. Especially seeing as Morgan and I seem to be getting more and more interested in them. I’m certainly no entomologist but I’m amazed by the diversity of insects you can find in the garden if you just take a little time to look for them.
National Insect Week.
National Insect Week, organised by The Royal Entomological Society, is your chance to learn more about the insect world in all its fascinating diversity. There are plenty of ways to get involved, from photo competitions, online surveys and pond dipping.
International Year of Biodiversity
National Insect Week is part of the world-wide celebrations of 2010 as the International Year of Biodiversity (IYB). There are more species of insect (over 24,000 in the UK alone) than all other types of animal together so they are a great way of highlighting biodiversity, even in your own back garden.
Garden Insects
Bee
It doesn’t mater how small your garden is, there WILL be insects in it, and probably more than you expect. An insect has six legs, three body parts, antennae and often in adulthood has wings. They have complicated life cycles and can, like bees and ants, live in complex societies. Many people think of them as pests in the garden, such as the greenfly, but most of them are actually beneficial and with a little restraint by the gardener when it comes to pesticides you should be able to strike a balance between the ‘pests’ and the predatory insects that eat the pests. Doing so will of course increase the number of insects in the garden which will increase other attractive wildlife such as birds.
Many garden insects are also important pollinators of plants and vital in clearing up and decomposing waste material. Without them there probably wouldn’t be much of a garden at all.
Four Spotted Chaser
I say other ‘attractive’ wildlife because when you get up close and personal the insects are a pretty impressive bunch themselves. Everyone is familiar with the bright colours of butterflies and anyone reading this blog will have seen how moths can be equally impressive. But the metallic sheen of beetles and the colours on certain flies can be just as spectacular. The acrobatics of dragonflies should astound anyone and close up some of the insects can look like a monster from the most gruesome of horror movies.
Whatever your preference there should be an insect that is right up your street. Get out there, take a look around and see what you can find – bug hunting can be fun!
