Love bugs
When it comes to wildlife, most of our attention and love is given to the fluffy mammals and, on occasion, the other vertebrates. If and when insects get a look-in, it’s usually the pollinators – and even then, it’s normally just the pretty butterflies and cute buzzing bees. Maybe, at a stretch, moths and dragonflies will get a mention, too. But there are so many other insects that are worth at least a moment of your time.
Great Britain and Ireland are home to a remarkable 24,000-plus species of insects, with more joining the list on a regular basis, including previously undiscovered species that have been living here already, newly arrived ones from continental Europe undergoing natural range expansion, or accidentally introduced species.
Just last year, a completely new insect order was added to the UK list – the first for 100 years. Entomologists at RHS Wisley in Surrey discovered webspinners, which belong to the Embioptera order, in a glass house. Native to Thailand, it’s thought they were imported via the plant trade, but they’re not deemed to be pests.
KNOWN YET UNKNOWN
Even familiar groups of insects can prove to be surprising, be it the life cycle and adaptations of cuckoo bumblebees (look this up, you won’t
