Identifying Insects

[Sue]

Since I've started on the allotment have become fascinated by the insects and spiders even ( a big step forward for me) I've got books to help identify them but not easy to use when I've been digging. Has anyone seen identification charts? I could pin up them up in the shed for easy reference.
I'm getting to learn the common ones but what was the little yellow spider I saw carrying around a housefly three times its size???
Sue

[Waffler]

An interloper from a banana box trying out for the iron spider championships?

[rustylady]

With all the insects we get in this country you'll need a very big shed to display wallcharts, Sue.

Seriously, try looking on the net. We found a strange looking ladybird and my daughter found a website with pictures and descriptions. Once you find that sort of thing you can just print the page. We did something similar for birdwatch last year so the little ones could join in by pointing to the pictures even if they didn'tknow the names of the birds.

[25cowlane]

Check out the guides that the Field Studies Council produce, you can see them on their website here.

You would probably need to get a couple of different ones to cover most eventualities. I have a couple of these charts, one for birds and another for mammal tracks and I find them invaluable. You'll quite often find them in nature reserve shops and the like but failing that you can get them from the website.

[Earthbabe]

I've seen some of these in various places in the New Forest and they are great. Really beautiful too, so a pleasure to have around.

[ugly gourd]

I always waste time on the lottie watching the butterflies last year I had 14 painted ladies fluttering around me I shall have to treasure that memory through the artic winter they say is coming!!

[Sue]

Brilliant!
Thanks for the advice, 25cowlane, I've checked out the website link and put in an order for enough charts to paper the shed entirely. I'm very envious of the Painted Ladies that must have been wonderful, butterflies in very short supply in Kent (except for cabbage whites!) my biggest event was three Red Admirals in one day.
Sue

[Mrs Dobby]

We are very fortunate to have a large flowering Buddehlia in the front garden, which attracts butterflies like nothing I've ever seen! The most we ever counted was 53 Red Admirals on it at one time, quite an amazing site! Plus the Buddehlia flowers once dried and ground up make a really good incense base, if you make your own!

As for identifying species, the Collins field guides are great, small enough to go in a pocket yet plenty of info and piccies, very useful indeed! Whenever we go walking we usually have one for herbs, one for wild flowers, one for trees, one for mammals, one for insects and another for fungii!

[CarolineSonning]

These guy's are pretty informative http://www.uksafari.com.

The problem I was having is that a number of the smaller butterflies and all the Dragon/Damsel flies refuse to stay still long enough to be compared to their picture

[Sue]

I've put in a buddlia this year so hope for great things in 2007. I've tried to get the right flowers in, left the nettles behind the greenhouse etc, so can only hope the word will get round.
I've got field guides but difficult to use with gardening gloves and they started to get rather muddy too. I've signed up for one of the HDRA's garden experiments next year on spiders so really wanted to get my hand in early and learn about them rather than run fast in the other direction. Although have got much braver now having come face to face with so many on the allotment. Saying that one of those big hairy ones ran across my arm last week and I stood up and did a dance and screamed drawing many funny looks from fellow allotmenteers.
Sue

[CarolineSonning]

Saying that one of those big hairy ones ran across my arm last week and I stood up and did a dance and screamed drawing many funny looks from fellow allotmenteers.
Sue

I've got over my fear when in the garden and even spend time examining them, but still go funny with the big ones when they are in the house even when I have been looking at the exact same kind in the garden, go figure.

[Birdie Wife]

I saw a large garden spider crawling along the ground under one of my blackberry bushes this summer, she looked a bit strange so I took a closer look - at first sight it looked like she was infested with some kind of mite but since 'Life in the Undergrowth' (what a fantastic programme!) I since learned that she must have been carrying babies - I feel so priviledged to have seen something like that. It really is another world in miniature down on the ground.