Bee-fly (Bombylius major) pictured in the New Forest.
Adults feed on the nectar of spring flowers through their long proboscis. Although they are excellent pollinators, their larvae are parasitoids and so ultimately they can have a damaging affect on the numbers of other pollinators such as bees and wasps. As a bee mimic, the female Bee-fly lay their eggs near the nests of solitary bees and wasps, then flick them into the nests where the larvae will feed on the hosts food stores and young.
Aphids on a Rose bush.
‘Ants love them for their “milk” and actually herd them and build “barns” of tiny sand grains to protect them.’ Gerald Durrell
Silhouette of a female Speckled Bush-Cricket (Leptophyes punctatissima)
Female Speckled Bush-Cricket on long grass
Red Soldier Beetle (Rhagonycha fulva).
Common May-August.
Red Soldier Beetle (Rhagonycha fulva).
Common May-August.
