Where have all the bugs gone?

Blogger: Aggie Rothon, Communications Officer

It’s suddenly gone cold hasn’t it? It only seems like yesterday that we were rushing outside in shorts and t-shirts but now the mornings have that smoky grey autumnal quality and the evenings have a bite to them. I rather like it, being fond of the mellow, fecund months before December’s festive rush.

Last week I cut back some of the summer’s excess stalks and bulges in the garden. The lemon balm (as lemon balms are wont to do) had been gradually pushing its shoots further and further away from its original root bed and the fennel that had grown so excessive had started to turn grey-brown and brittle-looking. So out came the secateurs and down came the fennel, leaving a large woody pile next to the compost heap.

The garden looks a bit bare now that the surfeit of summer has been trimmed back. But it’s not just the lack of vegetation that gives the garden this unoccupied feeling. There are fewer insects visible too. The butterflies don’t visit so regularly now that the buddleia has gone over and the low drone of the hoverflies isn’t so audible anymore. The occasional bumblebee will stumble woozily in to the garden but for the past week or so, that’s been about it.

So I asked expert entymologist Stephen Falk, from the invertebrate conservation trust Buglife, why this is. Do all insects hibernate and if so, is that where they have all gone?

I am amazed to find out that there are 22,000 species of insect in the UK. What with this huge diversity of insect there are consequently many different ways for an insect to hibernate. Some overwinter as adults, snuggling in to underground burrows or hollow trees to avoid the damp and cold. The butterflies that you may associate with the start of spring; brimstones, commas and peacocks hibernate this way emerging as soon as the nature eases itself into the greener months.

Some adults lay eggs to survive the winter; hairstreak butterflies need blackthorn bushes to do this very thing and some insects even migrate. Southern coast dwellers have reported seeing hundreds of hoverflies heading off across the sea seeking the warmth of Europe. 

So the answer is yes. Insects are starting to hibernate now so there is no better time to create areas in your garden fit for a Queen (bee) or any other insect your garden plays host to. Buglife provide step-by-step instructions on how to create bug hotels – a perfect way to entertain the kids for an afternoon and asks you to report back to them how you got on as part of their Snug as a Bug campaign. Buglife’s web sites is a great resource and well worth a look, go here for more information www.buglife.org.uk on how to help your hoverflies.

Image - Stephen Falk