The winter of 2018-2019 saw a large number of lawns devastated by leatherjackets. These grubs live in the soil, just under the surface of a lawn. They are the larval stage of crane flies (tipulidae). Eggs laid by the adults in the summer months. They hatch and the grubs then spend the winter days munching through grass plants,… Read More »
Updated: October 2020 Download my leatherjacket fact sheet This is a summary PDF of this blog post in an easy to see, printable format. What are leatherjackets? A leatherjacket is the common name for the larval stage of an insect called a crane fly. They are in the Tipulidae family of insects. In the UK, two species of… Read More »
I have been seeing a lot of mining bee nests recently (Andrena sp.). It seems the hot early spring weather has set them into a nest building frenzy! These beautiful little bees build themselves curious structures that look like miniature volcanoes. They are usually around 5cm high, made of bits of soil, usually with a hole around 4mm… Read More »