Freeing the Pond Olive Mayfly

Once again the brown wheelie bin for garden waste came up trumps with a new species for the backyard - this time my first mayfly, a Pond Olive (#301) with its lovely long tail streamers.  Mayflies are usually found by ponds and streams, so God knows how it got in my compost bin, as I'd only been pulling up some potato plants and a few weeds; certainly nothing from any pond.  Apparently it's a myth that mayflies only live for a day - even so, spending a large proportion of your life shut in a dark wheelie bin is a bit tragic.  I was happy to liberate it.

Weekend Bug Safari

Spent some time, between World Cup matches, with my youngest son checking for bugs around the garden, and in the process adding several species to the list and learning about some garden inhabitants I'd previously overlooked. Checking the brown wheelie bin for garden waste always yields something after I've been doing some pruning - in this case #154 an oak bush cricket nymph.  Bashing some bushes & trees and catching the falling bugs on a white sheet was fun and also got some results.

#154 Oak Bush Cricket nymph

#161 Crepidodera fulvicornis Flea beetle

#159 Lesser Willow Sawfly larvae

#164 White-lipped Snail

#170 Tachyporus obtusus Rove beetle

#162 Green Orb Weaver Spider

#158 Blue-tailed Damselfly

I was wondering when I was going to find my first garden dragonfly or damselfly. Where here he (I think) is; a Blue-tailed Damselfly resting up in my tomato plants.

#158 Blue-tailed Damselfly