Your garden is full of FASCINATING CRITTERS if you take the time to stop and look…
PAINTED LADY BUTTERFLY
Look out for this little beauty with a short yet astonishing life. It migrates around 9,000 miles from its home in tropical Africa to the Arctic Circle, via the UK in spring, to find plants for its caterpillars to eat. But it’s not the same butterfly that returns to Africa in the autumn. Each butterfly only lives for two to four weeks, the females laying up to 500 eggs in that short time, and the journey is completed by up to six successive generations!
HAIRY-FOOTED FLOWER BEE
These fluffy flyers aren’t bumblebees but solitary bees, and it’s easy to spot a female as she has distinctive orange hairs on her hind legs. One of the first bees to emerge from hibernation so easy to spot, they’ll make a beeline to feed on garden primroses or lungwort. And if you find a dozy bee in your house around now, it’s very likely to be a hairy-footed flower bee if you have an open fire, as they often nest in chimney stacks. Usher it outside and it’ll be fine!
Common toad
Toads only visit ponds to breed so you might have one living in your garden even if you don’t have a pond. You’ll know it’s a toad (and not a frog) because of its dry lumpy-bumpy skin.
HUMMINGBIRD HAWK-MOTH
This impressive moth is an increasingly common sight in UK gardens as its numbers increase. With a wingspan of around 5cm and a long proboscis tongue that resembles a hummingbird’s finely curved beak, and uncoils as it drinks nectar from flowers, it’s quite a sight! One of the few moths to spot in daytime, look for its two sets of wings, grey-brown at the front and orange behind, on buddleja and honeysuckle blooms.
Banded snail
No one wants pesky snails munching on their hostas, but don’t worry about banded yellow, white or brown snails as they’re much less destructive than the common garden snail.
NOT-RED LADYBIRDS
There are over 40 species of resident UK ladybirds, many that aren’t crimson. Aphid-eating harlequin ladybirds come in many colours
