Thread for Other Invertebrates Not Covered By Other Threads (we have other threads for arachnids, bees & wasps, butterflies and moths, and flies)

[Epona]

Having said that, it can be really difficult to ID certain things even with close-up photos showing a lot of detail.

The invertebrate world is full of things that survive by looking like other things

 

[Callie]

Wasps eat my fence. Motherflippers. Sometimes I hear a weird scrapey/crunchy noise in the garden and then find said noise emanating from one of these waspy gits chewing up my fence.

 

[The39thStep]

Lots of ants in this current hot weather. Very small ones that appear just about anywhere, on the tiles outside dismembering a spiders body or last week appeared in a long line in a bathroom. I'm wiping down all kitchen surfaces and the floor in the morning as today I had a line from the kitchen door up around the sink and on a work surface as I had left some skin from a mango out in a dish. Must get some more of that white powder that wipes them out.

 

[iona]

Ants are one thing I've not seen at all here. There must be some but can't say I miss them after the battles I used to have down south with the bastards building nests everywhere

 

[Radiatori]

Wrong thread.

 

[moochedit]

Lots of ants in this current hot weather. Very small ones that appear just about anywhere, on the tiles outside dismembering a spiders body

Nice one ants

 

[farmerbarleymow]

Must get some more of that white powder that wipes them out.

Buying coke for ants is a wee bit extravagant, no?

 

[moochedit]

Buying coke for ants is a wee bit extravagant, no?

It's their reward for eating the spider

 

[iona]

Not quite sure what I interrupted here!

 

[Epona]

Looks like they are both eating the little blob of what looks like bird shit

 

[iona]

Looks like they are both eating the little blob of what looks like bird shit

Nah, definitely plotting something I reckon Or some kind of illicit interspecies tryst

 

[story]

Ants are one thing I've not seen at all here. There must be some but can't say I miss them after the battles I used to have down south with the bastards building nests everywhere

What is to be done about this??

I’ve got an increasing problem with ants. I hate to kill things but I may have to be that person.

 

[story]

Spent some time this afternoon at the edge of a pond, watching dragonflies mating and laying eggs, and water boatmen, and a water spider too.

 

[iona]

What is to be done about this??

I’ve got an increasing problem with ants. I hate to kill things but I may have to be that person.

Indoor or outdoor ants? I tried the nematodes that supposedly stop them making nests nearby, can't say they made any noticeable difference but then my ant problem was pretty extreme - I'm talking whole patches of open ground that were just a solid, seething mass of ants before you even started digging, and nests like that every few feet in places. Afraid I did eventually end up just killing a lot of them (not that even that seemed to make much difference for long)

 

[maomao]

I love ants but a) they're the most common creature on the planet and can take a few deaths and b) my blackcurrant bush is for me to make jam out of not for them to farm aphids. I use the little bait stations but have been known to backup with the odd kettle of hot water.

 

[Callie]

Is this a cricket? Will it eat my tent?

 

[newme]

whats a slow worm?

 

[Callie]

whats a slow worm?

I don't know what is a slow worm?!





(It's a legless lizard...looks like a snake)

 

[newme]

I don't know what is a slow worm?!





(It's a legless lizard...looks like a snake)

It's the argh whats that then SO deals with it lol. Apart from.the one I hit with a mower accidentally which was messy very briefly.

 

[Callie]

This thread will have to suffice (yes I know these dudes have backbones).... I want to be a lizard monitor! I love them.

 

[Callie]

LOOK AT ITS LOVELY LIZARD FACE!!!!!!

 

[mojo pixy]

I found this splendid little fellow on my sage yesterday...

 

[Epona]

I found this splendid little fellow on my sage yesterday...

View attachment 396671

That looks like a Rosemary Beetle - native to Southern Europe but now becoming established in the UK especially the SE, and a pest to gardeners - likes to munch its way through rosemary, lavender, thyme and sage.

It is a glorious little creature, but it's going to eat your herbs!

 

[mojo pixy]

That looks like a Rosemary Beetle - native to Southern Europe but now becoming established in the UK especially the SE, and a pest to gardeners - likes to munch its way through rosemary, lavender, thyme and sage.

It is a glorious little creature, but it's going to eat your herbs!

Interesting, thanks .. I've never seen one before, and am in the deep southwest but it's been getting really warm the last few years so not surprised to see new immigrants like this. I guess I can expect more as I have all four of the herbs you mention in the garden!

 

[Epona]

Today I attended a workshop about Bumblebees and I learned that if you are near one and it lifts a leg looking like it wants to give you a high-five, it means it is afraid or stressed and is giving you a warning.

 

[Epona]

Also apologies, my brain is filled with Bumblebee Facts right now and I've started regurgitating them in a few threads.
If it's any consolation, N also got a bit of a Bumblebee Data Dump when I got home, and as he works nights he was only half awake and I was talking at him

 

[Epona]

Oh and next Friday I'm attending a butterfly workshop, so brace yourselves

 

[Storm Fox]

Also apologies, my brain is filled with Bumblebee Facts right now and I've started regurgitating them in a few threads.
If it's any consolation, N also got a bit of a Bumblebee Data Dump when I got home, and as he works nights he was only half awake and I was talking at him

You are saying this like it's a bad thing.
More Bumble facts, please!

 

[iona]

Not sure our polytunnel bumblebees will have survived the tunnel losing its skin and then being full of snow this winter

 

[Epona]

Not sure our polytunnel bumblebees will have survived the tunnel losing its skin and then being full of snow this winter

Only newly hatched and mated queens tend to survive the winter anyway, if you had any and they were able to find somewhere to hibernate then that is the best you can expect really