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Is it just me or is anyone else's...


SilentGuy

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I think insect numbers are down at the moment due to the cold wet summer last year hindering their breeding, and followed by the long winter and very cold spring means their numbers will take time to recover.

Ive particularly noticed a lack of Aphids this year and also their predators. Ive seen very few bees this year too

Edited by mantrid
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I think insect numbers are down at the moment due to the cold wet summer last year hindering their breeding, and followed by the long winter and very cold spring means their numbers will take time to recover.

Ive particularly noticed a lack of Aphids this year and also their predators. Ive seen very few bees this year too

While I've seen fewer bees and wasps, aphids and flies are another matter. While not as much as other years, still quite a bit. They seem really reluctant to want hang around the pitchers. Mostly fly on the lids, eat some of the dried nectar there and then just fly back off - rarely venturing into the lip/under the hood.

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Insect numbers are definately down over all where I am, especially flies and capture rates are similarly low. I'm actually seeing more bees than last year here and contrary to Mantrid I've noticed a boom in aphids generally, due to a severe shortage of ladybirds.

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I had an invasion of aphids at the start of the season, provado cleared that up, then it was slugs, I've never seen as many as this year, maybe that's due to the wet start to the year?.

I don't like using sprays and pellets but with the amount of plants crammed into such a small space there's very little option.

I don't expect my plants to catch the same as they would have out in the garden but they seem to be doing ok for food.

The greenhouse is always buzzing with the latest victims, mainly houseflies I'm glad to say.

It was hover flies last couple of years which is a bit upsetting as I'm fairly fond of them little beasts.

I've not seen a ladybug, cricket, grasshopper, wasp, hedgehog, bats or many of the other creatures I associate with summer.

We have had lots of slow worms in the garden though this year and they're supposed to be in decline?.

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I have seen quite a few insects. I saw about 3 ladybirds yesterday for the first time this year. No aphids but they will boom later on. Lots of moths and spiders and slugs. Too many spiders actually, there was about 20 in my bathroom yesterday! Also lots of flies and ants. I have seen a few bees but not many.

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Too many spiders actually, there was about 20 in my bathroom yesterday! Also lots of flies and ants. I have seen a few bees but not many.

You may want to check for breaks or holes in your walls or roof if you are getting this many spiders. If spiders are getting in easily then more damaging insects will also be able to get in such as wood worm that can cause thousands of pounds of damage and effect the structure of the house. Holes may also be large enough to let in small mammals such as mice and even rats.

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Strange year for everyone. My allotment site flooded really badly end of last year and this year there has been hardly any slugs/snails about. There was loads of aphids/blackfly about but in the last month the number of ladybirds and larvae has boomed hugely. My corgette leafs are covered in ladybird larvae making the change to adulthood. Also noticed that my VFT all seem to be full of daddy long legs??

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I've seen a couple of ladybird larvae on my plants, feasting on the aphids :P

Alot of flies, but less bees and wasps (and butterflies).

Bees have been in decline since 2008/9 and seeing as they're responsible for pollinating a third of the food we eat, we're going to be well screwed if they continue to diminish at the current rate :sad:

Some interesting reading....

www.vanishingbees.co.uk

www.ejfoundation.org

www.pan-europe.info

I've seen two bees come through my open windows to inspect my plants so far this summer, but i make sure i "shoo" them back out.

I appreciate this is an impossible task for those who grow their plants outdoors, but if you can prevent or postpone a bees death, then please try to do so.

Even if your intervention only manages to extend a bees life by a few minutes or hours, they can do an awful lot of pollinating in that time.

It's not confirmed, but it's reckoned to be the fault of huge multinational pesticide companies, but it always comes down to the little people like us to try and repair the damage.

Edited by Welshy
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Most insects are late this year, as with most wildlife. Craneflies recently exploded onto the scene along with aphids here around Cambridge. Bees have picked up in numbers (both my little boy and myself have been stung by honey bees on clover flowers in the lawn for the first time this year!). Not many wasps around but I think they are just around the corner.

It is nice not having so many early insects for my Sarras to eat. The pitchers look good for longer and only now am I starting to detect the first stench of decaying flies.

A weirdness for me this year was finding an Orange Ladybird on one of my potato plants one night.

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You may want to check for breaks or holes in your walls or roof if you are getting this many spiders. If spiders are getting in easily then more damaging insects will also be able to get in such as wood worm that can cause thousands of pounds of damage and effect the structure of the house. Holes may also be large enough to let in small mammals such as mice and even rats.

nah, they come in through the window because they are always open. the moths also use this method to get in but what are you going to do if you want a cool and breezy house.

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