Éanna Ní Lamhna on a garden thief, the darter dragonfly, and – cough, cough – rook pellets
I woke to a very misty morning and discovered in the garden that most of the bushes and grass in the garden were covered in what looked like cobwebs. Are they cobwebs?Yes indeed. These are the hammock webs of money spiders, which are so fine that they are often very difficult to see except on misty or frosty autumn mornings, when their true abundance is revealed.
It had what looks like two longs tails. Can you please help us identify it?It is an ichneumon fly called Rhyssa persuasoria. The tails are its ovipositor, with which it lays eggs deep inside caterpillars. The emerging larvae eat the poor caterpillars from the inside.
Ireland Latest News, Ireland Headlines
Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.
What is this hairy creature I found clinging to a jumper on my washing line?Eanna Ní Lamhna addresses your notes and queries, and explains how badgers could help save potatoes
Read more »
Why does Ireland have Protestant and Catholic woodlice? With Éanna Ní LamhnaTwo species of woodlice evolved in Protestant and Catholic graveyards in Ireland due to different building materials, a wildlife expert said.
Read more »
Grey squirrels don’t hibernate and they’d be nuts to eat conkersEanna Ní Lamhna debunks a squirrel myth, confirms there are no toads in Malahide and identifies an old Donegal coral
Read more »
An otter spotter’s paradise in Co DonegalÉanna Ní Lamhna on the limitations of Google, the kestrel’s talent for spotting mouse pee, and a very large caterpillar
Read more »
Éanna Ní Lamhna: ‘In 1970 we had twice as much biodiversity as we have now. Twice as much: 90 per cent of our curlews are gone’The wildlife expert on her new book of Irish biodiversity, staying hopeful, and why dandelions are better than daffodils
Read more »
First-look photo: Éanna Hardwicke to star as Roy Keane and Steve Coogan as Mick McCarthy in Saipan filmSaipan will follow the infamous 2002 World Cup feud between Ireland’s football captain and manager
Read more »