We see insects throughout the village, from the pretty ones with good PR like the butterflies and ladybirds to wasps and bees. Insects make up about 90% of all species of animals and about of half of all living things in our planet and they are in serious decline in the UK with 41% of all species at risk of instinction. The charity buglife has a campaign called 'No Insectinction' which is well worth a look. Among their simple tips for things we can do to help are- use alternatives to peats, cut down on use of insecticides, be less tidy and create an area of wildflowers and long grass in your garden, reduce your carbon footprint and don't use imported plants and trees which can bring in dangerous invasive species.

Here are some of the pictures of local bug life we have had so far and some information based on our non-expert identification. Any additions or corrections are always welcome at wildaboutlaverstock@gmail.com.

These long thin insects are important polinators. They play an important role in environmental functionality, and can serve as bio-indicators, in which their abundance can reflect the health of the environment

These very common flies play an important role in our environment. Their larvae help breakdown dead organic tissue and the flies perform a number of vital roles from pollinating to dealing with faeces left lying around (but not I am sure by Laverstock's conscientious dog walkers!)

Assuming we have got the identification right this is probably a visitor from the community farm. These large insects feed on the blood or horses and cows. It is hard to get a sense of scale from the photo, but it caught my eye in our garden because it was big!

The latin name is just as grim- Sarcophaga canaria! However these striking flies play an important role in our eco-system cleaning up various dead organic matter.

This is a great photo by Joe of processionary caterpillars in the country park. They get their name from their habit of walking together in straight lines 'nose to tail' (if you can say that about caterpillars! As Rita observed on the Facebook page they are not ones to handle or let your pets get near as the hairs can trigger nasty reactions.

Photograph courtesy of Alan of one of our commonest butterflies. I'm glad he was able to identify it, I find it very challenging from just the underwing. If you are struggling to identify a butterfly there is a great resource on the butterfly conservation trust website.

This great photograph from Alan shows just why bees make such great polinators. Last year the government took an 'emergency derogation' to allow sugar beet producers to spray their crop with Neonicitinoid insectides which have a devestating impact on bees. Find out more about the campaign against this here.

Another great photo from Alan to remind us that there is more to bees than just the honey bee! In fact there are 250 different species of bee in the UK. Here is a good guide to some of them.

Alan sent in this great picture of a grasshopper who was wall hanging at the time. On a visit to Zambia, I once had the opportunity to 'enjoy' fried grasshopper for dinner, a local delicacy! Cutting down on meat consumption is one of the best ways we can reduce our carbon footprint, but this article shows some people think that eating insects like grasshoppers is going to be a significant source of protein in all of our diets in the future.