insects and small creatures in wildlife gardens

COMMON EXAMPLES

Redcurrants are eaten by aphids, which in turn are eaten by birds.

The insects on this plant – a mixture of flies, beetles and blackfly – will make a tasty meal for a family of blue its.

A spider wrapping up its prey in a web cocoon for storage.

Woodlice (see page 77) cleaning up rotten wood debris.

These aphids, if left untreated with pesticides, make a tasty meal for ladybirds. Ants, however, will ‘farm’ aphids – to feed on their honeydew – and protect them from predators.

Why are small creatures so vital?

Each insect and small creature is important in its own right – every ant, aphid and earwig is a miracle of nature. Furthermore, these sometimes not-so-endearing creatures are the very stuff that keeps the great wheel turning by slotting into the food chain. If we could eliminate our particular insect and bug hates, then all the creatures that feed on them, and those higher up the chain, would ultimately starve

INSECTS AND SMALL CREATURES IN THE GARDEN

One good look at your garden will show you that the greater part of the permanent wildlife population is made up of insects and other small creatures. There will be seasonal visitors, such as birds, bats, mice, squirrels and rabbits (and some of these might stay over), and one or two dynamic creatures such as badgers, foxes and grass snakes may come in to hunt the visitors; but at the heart of every wildlife garden there will be a fixed population of thousands of creeping and crawling, wriggling and squiggling, buzzing and humming, flitting and stinging creatures. If you need proof of this, go out on a warm summer evening and lift the lid on your compost heap, or have a close-up look at the mud in the pond, and you will see that the compost or mud is teeming with life. It is the same in every corner of the garden – there is life under every leaf, rock and stone.

WHAT DO THEY EAT?

In very general terms, these creatures feed on pollen, nectar, vegetable matter, smaller creatures in the soil, and each other. Gardeners all know about caterpillars feasting on cabbages, and aphids on roses, but as for what feeds on the caterpillars and the aphids, most people never get to know because they are so busy rushing about with chemical sprays. The interesting thing is that, if you hold the chemical spraying back long enough, you will see ants coming in for the aphids and birds coming in for just about everything. So the best way of feeding your small creatures is simply to get on with your gardening and let nature do the rest. Certainly, some of your plants will suffer in the short term, but it will all work out when a balance is achieved.

CHILDREN AND SMALL CREATURES

Children love watching insects and small creatures. If you want to interest them in how everything interacts with everything else in the natural world, sit them down in a quiet corner of the garden and show them an ants’ nest, or perhaps ladybirds feeding on aphids. Once they appreciate that every stone, leaf and twig gives shelter to creatures, they will have some understanding of what makes wildlife tick. Children enjoy lists, facts and figures – how many worms there are in a certain area of ground, the longest snake, the number of different bugs in a garden, the size and weight of an owl pellet. Most enjoy collecting, and like things that are a bit creepy or smelly. Set them tasks like making a collection of different bugs, mice skulls or snake skins. If taking a group of children on a field trip, however, remember that some kids really dislike such things.

POINTS TO CONSIDER

• More compost heaps, and more tree, leaf and plant debris, equate with more insects and small creatures.
• A muddy-bottomed wildlife pond is always a good option because it makes a wonderful home for bugs.
• Trying to achieve a good balance is something to aim for – it is not going to happen overnight.
• Balance is achieved by making sure that each creature has natural enemies to keep it in check – ants to eat aphids, various flies and bugs to eat the aphids, birds to eat the flies, and so on. An imbalance will occur when one of the links in the chain is broken.
• Ladybirds multiply in summer and are voracious eaters of aphids, mites and thrips.
• Aphids excrete honeydew, which attracts ants, which attract birds.
• Woodlice eat organic material such as leaves and dead wood, and birds and mice eat woodlice.
• Whitefly attract birds.
• Beetles make a tasty feed for many small birds.
• Spiders eat flies and small insects, and creatures such as mice, lizards and birds eat spiders.

Planning and planting the gardenDo I really want to encourage them?

he wonderful thing about insects and creepy-crawlies is that you do not have to do much to keep them happy, other than leave them alone. If you stop splashing chemicals around, they will do very nicely. However, if you build a pond , and a handful of compost heaps, and are more selective with your planting, then you will most certainly be able to increase the range of small creatures in your garden.

DESIGN CONSIDERATIONS

• Wild areas – Allow some part of the garden to become overgrown and wild. Plant a wildflower meadow, and set one or two corners aside for weeds. Reduce the mown lawn to a minimum.

• Food – Have dense borders with lots of shrubs and ground-cover plants, with as many berry-bearing species as possible. Allow the grass to grow long, and back the whole picture with as many trees as the space allows. Double up on the number of vegetables that you plant – so that you allow half for you and half for the insects.

• Water – Go for the biggest possible pond, with related bog gardens and pools. Have water butts to collect rain water.

• Shelter – Stack up piles of logs, build stone cairns and walls, collect piles of leaves and build boxes for insects.

If you plant in swathes, so that one clump of flowers runs into another and the ground is well covered, you will provide a home for beneficial insects and small creatures.

WHERE TO START

To create an environment that encourages diversity, a good first step is to build compost heaps. The compost will encourage micro-organisms to flourish – these will feed creatures such as bugs and ants, which will provide food for birds, reptiles and mammals. The next step is to encourage plant-pollinating creatures such as butterflies and bees.

PLANTS FOR BUTTERFLIES

• Aster aestivus (Michaelmas Daisy) – Hardy, with dense heads of white, star-shaped flowers.
• Buddleja officinalis (Buddleia) – Grows well against sunny walls; the purple flowers attract butterflies and other insects.
• Erica erigena (Irish heath) – Hardy, with mauve-pink flowers.
• Eupatorium cannabinum – (Hemp agrimony) – Grows wild and likes damp places.
• Knautia arvensis (Field Scabious) – Hardy, with lots of pincushion-like, bluish lilac flowers.
• Origanum vulgare (Marjoram) – Grows wild, hardy, with dark green leaves and mauve flowers.
• Syringa vulgaris (Lilac) – Shrub or small tree with very fragrant, pink, lilac or bluish flowers.
• Urtica dioica (Stinging Nettle) – Grows wild, with serrated leaves that sting on contact with skin. An important food plant for caterpillars.

PLANTS FOR BEES

• Daucus carota (Carrot) – Familiar vegetable that always seems to attract bees.
• Lonicera periclymenum (Honeysuckle) – Hardy, grows wild, and attracts bees, butterflies and other insects.
• Parthenocissus quinquefolia (Virginia Creeper) – Hardy, a good screen plant, grows wild.
• Rosmarinus officinalis (Rosemary) – Hardy herb that has a delicious fragrance when the leaves are crushed.
• Rubus fruticosus (Blackberry or Bramble) – Hardy, grows wild and attracts a broad range of insects.
• Trifolium spp. (Clover) – Hardy, with types to suit all situations.

• Vicia faba (Broad Bean) – Hardy vegetable that bears pea-like flowers.

PLANTS FOR OTHER INSECTS

• Achillea millefolium (Yarrow) – Hardy, with clusters of daisy-like flowers.
• Centaurea cyanus (Cornflower) – Hardy, with blue, thistle-like flowers.
• Crataegus monogyna (Hawthorn) – Hardy, grows wild and makes a good wildlife hedge.
• Eschscholzia californica (Californian Poppy) – Hardy, with brightly coloured, saucer-shaped flowers.
• Foeniculum vulgare (Fennel) – Hardy, with fern-like, aromatic leaves and clusters of small yellow flowers.

A peacock butterfly feeding on a yellow variety of buddleia (see above).

The plant coverage and the different heights here will give home to a good variety of butterflies, bees and insects.

Butterflies and moths
What is the difference?

here can be no finer sight than a garden full of flowers at the height of summer festooned with beautiful butterflies of various sizes and colours. Butterflies and moths are winged insects that have a number of common characteristics as well as some significant differences (see below). Butterflies will only fly when the temperature is high enough, and will sometimes lay their wings flat in a sunny spot in order to warm them up.

MAIN DIFFERENCES

Butterflies and moths belong to the same insect family (Lepidoptera), and at first sight look much alike, but there are four clear differences:

• Butterflies gather food during the day and moths do this during the night.

• Butterflies make shiny chrysalises and moths make silky cocoons.

• Butterflies usually rest with their wings closed and moths with their wings open.

• Butterflies have long, thin antennae and moths have short, feathery ones.

BREEDING CYCLE

The adults mate and lay eggs, which hatch into caterpillars. After a period of voracious feeding (as most gardeners will tell you!), each caterpillar turns into a ‘pupa’, which is housed either in a chrysalis (butterflies) or a cocoon (moths), and becomes dormant. When conditions are right, the adult emerges and the cycle begins all over again.

COMMON BUTTERFLIES

Aglais urticae (Small Tortoiseshell) – Wingspan 5 cm (2 in); brightly coloured with speckled orange and black wings; caterpillar black and yellow; feeds on many plants including thistles, nettles and buddleia.

Inachis io (Peacock) – Wingspan 6 cm (2½ in); bright red, black and blue, with peacock ‘eye’; caterpillar black and hairy; feeds on garden flowers, buddleia and rotting fruit.

Pieris brassicae (Large White, European Large White) – Wingspan 6 cm (2½ in); white with black dots; caterpillar mottled green and black; feeds on most members of the cabbage family.

Polyommatus icarus (Common Blue) – Wingspan 3.5 cm (1½ in); brightly coloured blue and blue-black with red-orange wing-edge lines and dots; caterpillar green; feeds on many plants including clover and fleabane.

Pyronia tithonus (Gatekeeper) – Wingspan 3.5 cm (1½ in); bright orangebrown with brown wing edges and dotted ‘eye’; caterpillar brown with white stripes; feeds on many nectar-rich flowers and plants in and around gardens, orchards and hedgerows.

Vanessa atalanta (Red Admiral, American Red Admiral) – Wingspan 6 cm (2½ in); black with bold red and white markings; caterpillar green and yellow; feeds on many plants including Michaelmas daisy, buddleia and clover.

COMMON MOTHS

Abraxas grossulariata (Magpie Moth) – Wingspan 4 cm (1¾ in); black and white/cream wings, with red, orange and black details; looper caterpillar same colour as the adult’s wings; feeds on many plants including gooseberry bushes, fruit trees and hazel.

Choreutis pariana (Apple Leaf Skeletonizer) – Wingspan 12 mm (½ in); small with peachy red and brown striped wings; caterpillar fat, yellow and green with black dots; feeds on crab apple and other fruit trees; gets its name because of the way it skeletonizes the leaves.

Elophila nymphaeata (Brown China-mark) – Wingspan 3 cm (1¼ in); dull, mottled, creamy brown; caterpillar cream and brown, resembles a maggot; feeds on many water plants in and around ponds.

Erannis defoliaria (Mottled Umber) – Wingspan 3.5 cm (1½ in); mottled brown-cream-white wings; caterpillar fat and brown; feeds on the leaves and buds of fruit trees.

Hepialus lupulinus (Common Swift, European Common Swift) – Wingspan 3.5 cm (1½ in); mottled brown with darker details; caterpillar yellow/brown, resembles a maggot; feeds on crops such as wheat and lettuce.

Hydraecia micacea (Rosy Rustic) – Wingspan 3.5 cm (1½ in); light to dark brown shaded wings; caterpillar pinky red, yellow and brown; feeds on grasses and crops such as tomatoes and potatoes.

Orgyia antiqua (Vapourer Moth) – Wingspan 38 mm (1⅜ in); red-brown with dark-coloured wing ‘eye’; caterpillar yellow, red and green with exotic tufts of hair; feeds on a range of garden trees and shrubs.

Plutella xylostella (Diamond-back Moth) – Wingspan 12 mm (½ in); small and fly-shaped with brown and white, feather-edged wings; caterpillar plump and green; feeds on a broad range of plants, including many common vegetables.

Spilosoma lubricipeda (White Ermine) – Wingspan 4 cm (1¾ in); furry white with black spots; caterpillar green/brown with dark details; feeds on leaves, including oak

Bees and wasps
What is the difference between them?

asps and bees are closely related, and both are insects that build colonies around a central queen. The visible difference is that wasps are bald and bees are hairy. The less obvious difference is that wasps feed their meat-eating larvae dead insects, while bees feed their vegetarian larvae pollen and nectar. Although they are both capable of inflicting a nasty sting when provoked, they have a very useful role to play in the garden.

POINTS TO CONSIDER

• Research suggests that bees are one of our favourite insects and that bee-keeping is a very popular gardening activity.

• The worker honey bee has a life span of about four weeks, but the honey bee queen has a life span of about five years.

• Bees feed on nectar and pollen, and are used as pollinators by many flowering plants.

• Honey bees need to eat about 9 kg (20 lb) of honey for each 450 g (1 lb) of beeswax.

• Wasps feed their larvae on insects and spiders, and the adults eat nectar and other sweet substances.

• Although unprovoked attacks by wasps are rare, the fact is that people do get stung and do have allergic reactions. Wasps are particularly attracted by sweet, sticky foods and drinks, so avoid consuming these in the open air in summer if you do not want to attract them.

A honey bee extracting nectar from a flower.

Apis mellifera
Honey Bee

Size – Queen 2.5 cm (1 in), worker 15 mm (⅝ in), drone 18 mm (¾ in) long.

Appearance – Has brown and yellow, fuzzy body.

Comments – Lives in a colony, usually in a beehive. The queen lays eggs, workers collect nectar and pollen, build cells and tend larvae, and drones or males have no purpose other than to mate with the queen. They forage within a 3 km (2 mile) radius of the hive. Honey bees use nectar to make honey – a complex mix of water and sugars. The bees get nectar from flowers, return to the hive, pass the nectar to other worker bees, spread the nectar throughout the honeycombs, and so on until it becomes the thick syrup that we know as honey.

Bombus terrestris
Bumble Bee

Size – 15 mm (⅝ in) long.

Appearance – Short and plump, with black and yellow bands around the body, and a white tail.

Comments – Nests underground in holes in a sheltered position. Only fertilized queens live through winter. The colony is not permanent and dies out in autumn.

Underground nest

Vespa crabro
Hornet (UK) European Hornet (USA)

Size – 3 cm (1¼ in) long.

Appearance – Has very bright orange and brown markings.

Comments – Nests in dead or dying trees and rotting wood. The adults feed the larvae with dead insects, and in return the larvae provide the adults with sweet saliva. They use the saliva mixed with chewed wood to make the nest. 

Vespula vulgaris
Common Wasp (UK) Yellowjacket Wasp (USA)

Size – 2.5 cm (1 in) long.

Appearance – Has distinct black and yellow stripes.

Comments – Nests in a hole in a bank, wall, house roof, or anywhere where it is warm and sheltered. The nest consists of ‘papery’ cells made from chewed wood and saliva. Once the egg-laying season is over, the adults feed on ripe fruit.

A wasps’ nest is made, initially by a queen, from a mixture of chewed-up wood and saliva. It is later extended by

workers.