Too many people are scared of insects. True enough, there are some (like mosquitos) which you need to beware of, but the vast majority are totally harmless to humans. And with National Insect Week coming up at the end of the month, I thought it was time to look at some of the UK's most impressive, most fascinating creatures. So I asked around...
Maurice Tse-Laurence works on the RSPB website. He's a big fan of the beetles...
'Great diving beetles are voracious predators at all ages. The larvae are sometimes called ‘water tigers!’ Armed with scything pincers, they will eat anything they can tackle - even small fish. When I did pond-dipping at school, they were the most sought-after catch - even above smooth newts!
'As well as being adept swimmers the adults can also fly, wandering long distances in search of new homes. They usually do this at night and use the moon’s reflection to find water, but sometimes they get confused and land on shiny surfaces like cars or wet roads. Ouch!'
Derek Niemann writes and edits our children's magazines. For him, ants are a favourite...
'I'm drawn time and time again to animal behaviour. What is this animal doing? Why is it doing that? What might happen next?
'And for sheer complexity in the insect world, there's not much that can match an ant colony. I can spend ages watching them at the aphid milking parlour on a rose bush, following food trails in straggly foraging parties, dragging creatures far bigger than themselves back to the nest, or talking with their antennae when they meet. Thousands of little parts make up a great whole. Fascinating!'
Website editor Kevin Middleton is a hoverfly aficionado:
'Technically without a common name, my favourite insect is the UK’s largest hoverfly, Volucella zonaria. It's a hornet mimic, and you could easily mistake it as it whizzes past on summer’s day. Why do I like it? Well, it’s massive - in hoverfly terms anyway! Also, it migrates to the UK from Europe.'Thirdly, it looks pretty cool! I mean who couldn’t be seduced by that dark chestnut-brown upper body and bold black and yellow stripes lower down? Especially when it’s slurping nectar from a soft purple buddleia - for me it’s a true sign of summer and I can't wait to see my first of the year.'
Interestingly, Lucinda King, another website editor, is a fan of the real hornet!
'Just the name of my favourite insect can conjure up instant fear in some people, but if ever an insect had an undeservedly bad reputation it would have to be this one. Hornets are actually incredibly caring and gentle creatures. They are rarely aggressive and will helpfully warn you if you're starting to annoy them by head-butting you first, and stinging only if you don't take the hint and back off!
'As someone who is trying to grow my own veg, hornets are definitely welcome round my way - they eat lots of different pests that would otherwise chomp their way through my veg.'
Over in the RSPB's Nature Recovery office, Fiona Hunter is a big bug fan (and expert), but has made an interesting choice...
'My favourite is the seven-spot ladybird. Why? It’s the magical appearing act that it does. The first glimpse of red gets my adrenaline going and my inner child excited. Their gorgeous adult form is in such contrast to the spiny black larvae which look like something out of Doctor Who.
'There’s something for everyone to love about a seven-spot. To a gardener, it’s a friend, keeping down the aphids. They are one of the first insects that children recognise and can pick up (gently!). They are also fascinating to watch - have you ever seen a hungry ladybird devour greenfly?'
It was also a difficult selection process for Adrian Thomas, wildlife gardening guru...
'Favourite insect? There are so many! I’m tempted by the thick-kneed flower beetle, just because I’m amused by a metallic green beetle rummaging around in your flower beds with the most ludicrous knobbly knees. Or what about the hairy-footed flower bee, with the excitable gingery males buzzing at lightning speed and the all-black females they pounce on?
'But I’m going to have to plump for the elephant hawkmoth. That something so large made of bright pink faux fur should be zooming around so many of our gardens on summer nights is enough to amaze anyone.'
As insects go, one of my favourites is the honey bee. Today I received a great amount of satisfaction from ensuring a travelling ex queen and a portion of her old colony looking for a new place to call home have now found one! They chose to swarm in their characteristic football-like shape, and hang from a bottom branch of a leylandii tree in my garden. I contacted a local Bee Keeper whom was in my garden within ten minutes, and had safely transferred them to a 'box'. There were approximately twenty five thousand hanging from my tree! - The majority have gone home with the Bee Keeper to be given a brand new hive and all of the care and maintenance they require to continue going about their buzzy-business. Previously I may have just left them to rest on my tree for a while and allow them to leave of their own accord - had I not had the three year old little boy that I now have who is always eager to play outside!!!
Personally, I admire earthworms and spiders. Worms are so good for those of us who grow our own veg, while spiders are something I was petrified of as a child, screaming for it to be removed if the smallest one was in my bedroom - yet I have overcome this fear and can now happily sleep with a spider just above my head over my bed.
My Aussie and British birds blog - www.birdstory.com
I am impressed with that gentle giant the male Stag beatle which looks so ferocious but when you touch those enormous antlers (mandibles) will ease away perhaps confused by this calling of his bluff. They can be tamed by gently painting water with a small brush onto a tree twig they are clutching. I guess damp wood arouses memories for them from their long time as larvae, said to be up to four years.
My favourites of all time are the astonishingly exotic looking demoiselles, banded and not. I get very excited when I see them over or near the water when we are sailing on the Broads, and have seen them in the new Forest and other locations, including Brittany.
I delight in ALL insects. And if they will land on my arm (hover flies sometimes do) or hand then it's a wonder to me. I have recently ''saved'' two bumble bees exhausted on the ground by placing (a good quality) honey under their tongue. One was attempting to get sweetness out of a squashed sultana (I put them out for the birds) on a piece of carpet I wipe my feet on just in front of my patio door! This one spent a whole hour gorging on Finest English Honey and finally took off restored !