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Our Wildlife Garden

31st May 2026

May has been a very busy month in the garden for both visiting insects and our resident insects. Lots of activity all round and far too many photographs so these are the ones I found most interesting, they are roughly in order of date

Reposing on a crinkled leaf is an adult Common Green Shieldbug mostly a bright lime green colour with red tips to its legs and antennae.
A Holly Blue Butterfly with folded wings showing the pale blue almost white hairy body and the pale blue underwings with small black markings.
A Large Red Damselfly possibly female with black and yellow thorax and red and black abdomen is at rest holding on the edge of a Honesty flower seed pod.
A small black bee with lots of white hairs and a broad dark red band across its abdomen.
A trio of small white and bronze with crimson colouring Woundwort Shieldbugs are gathered on a leaf and two of the bugs are mating.
A yellowish brown and yellow Broad Bodied Chaser Dragonfly that has recently emerged from the pond and has yet to open its wings.
Feeding on a yellow flower is a Small Copper Butterfly vibrantly coloured in a coppery bright orange with brown markings.
A recently emerged Broad Bodied Chaser Dragonfly with open wings and a golden yellow and brown colouration.
An old seedhead of interest to a Hairy Shieldbug which is riot of colour with black and white antennae head and connexivum with purplish brown and mustardy gold elsewhere.
A White Campion flower which has five deeply divided large white petals and long white stamens.
Enjoying the morning sun is a Box Bug which is a fairly slender but angular Leatherbug with its upper half various shades of glossy brown and a much lighter underside.
Then Caterpillar of the Brimstone Butterfly is mostly bright green although paler underneath and the top sides are covered in tiny black dots.


We have had quite a bit of Shieldbug activity in the garden this month, this is a Common Green Shieldbug

Reposing on a crinkled leaf is an adult Common Green Shieldbug mostly a bright lime green colour with red tips to its legs and antennae.





Summer Leys

29th May 2026

We chose a sunny but not too hot day for a trip to Summer Leys Nature Reserve. The insect season was well and truly underway and there was lots to see

A tiny bright crimson red glossy beetle with long antennae the same colour is exploring a leaf.
A rather immaculate black and golden yellow Hoverfly is resting on what looks like a Holly leaf.
A Small Eggar Moth Caterpillar mostly a blueish black colour with black and crimson markings bordered with cream.
A Brown Argus Butterfly is at rest with unfolded wings which are mostly brown with small orange markings just inside the white fringed edges.
A dark golden brown and very fluffy Large Skipper Butterfly is feeding from a Thistle Flower.
A Speckled Wood Butterfly at rest with folded wings which are in various shades from cream to dark brown.
This is most likely a female Blue Tailed Damselfly with a delightful salmon pink thorax leading to a dark abdomen with the signature bright blue band towards the end.
Feeding on flower is a medium sized Hoverfly mostly yellow and bronze in colour with a darker abdomen which has yellow horizontal curved markings.
A Black and Yellow Longhorn Beetle long and slender with pale yellow wing cases decorated with black markings getting larger towards the end.
A Brimstone Butterfly at rest with folded wings showing a fluffy white head and large wings in various shades of pale green and yellowish green.
A dark cream and brown Mayfly is resting vertically on a stem of grass.
Feeding on a Blackberry Flower is a rather hairy Small Heath Butterfly with folded wings whose abdomen is a greyish brown and the wings shades of brown and bright orange.
A Green Veined White Butterfly with folded wings is feeding from a Blackberry flower with the intricate pattern of darker veins standing out from the white undersides of its wings.
A Holly Blue Butterfly with folded wings showing the pale blue undersides speckled with small black markings.


We saw huge numbers of Soldier Beetles near the Car Park.Trying to identify which species of Soldier Beetle this is was quite tricky. We have settled on Cantharis livida as the colours on the legs is indicative of this species although it is missing the black spot on its head






Summer Leys

15th May 2026

We took a quick visit to Summer Leys Nature Reserve on a rather hot day which meant we kept our stroll down to a gentle potter near the Car Park. Nevertheless there was plenty to see:

A large hairy Lackey Moth Caterpillar whose body is a pale blue speckled with black and full length longitudinal stripes of black orange and white.
A Buttercup is hosting a slender metallic dark green Thick Legged Flower Beetle with his signature thick thighs on his hindmost legs.
An immature Azure Damselfly long and slender with a creamish coloured thorax and a blue abdomen both having the black markings of the species.
A hairy and colourful Lackey Moth Caterpillar is examining the seedhead of one of last years Teasels.
Two small yellow and black 14 Spot Ladybirds are mating on a large nettle leaf whilst also on the leaf is a large spider whose legs are just visible.
A pair of orange and black Soldier Beetles are mating on a curly nettle leaf.
A cluster of dark pink Red Campion flowers each with five deeply divided petals giving the appearance of ten.
A bright red Harlequin Ladybird with around twenty black spots and a white pronotum with black markings.
A small black Bee is covered in pale gray almost white hairs with a few narrow bands of similar coloured hairs across its abdomen.
A large colourful hairy Caterpillar is feeding on a leaf.


We spotted quite a few Lackey Moth Caterpillars, they really are quite spectacular!

A large hairy Lackey Moth Caterpillar whose body is a pale blue speckled with black and full length longitudinal stripes of black orange and white.