Wonderful wildlife

Self-taught amateur entomologist Sabina George has been snapping super pictures of the creatures you may or may not have noticed in residence on your plots. A keen insect photographer who spends winter recording finds on iRecord (a database for UK Flora & Fauna), Sabina is always looking for new sites to explore and KATA was only too willing to take up her offer of having a looksie at what goes on around us on a sometimes very small scale…

latest sightings

April 13th at Odibourne Allotments I headed for the uncultivated, wild
areas with flowering deadnettle, dandlelions and Alkanet where I
photographed five species of Mining bees, a Red Mason bee, two species
of Bumblebees and sighted a Red-tailed Bumblebee (see collage). These
wild flower areas are vital sources of food for early bees and other
insects.  Alongside the bees were the parasitic Nomada bees and
Dark-Edged Bee-flies feeding and at work. The Bee-flies scatter eggs
around mining bee nests. The Nomad Bees wait for their bee hosts to
leave, then enter to deposit their eggs in the nest. Both use different
hosts and nature manages to keep parasites and hosts in balance. Sabina George

All words courtesy of Sabina George. Thank you for regularly visiting our sites, Sabina, and keeping us up to date on your findings about this vital group of organisms.