My Garden Year: 2026.: Flies and Bugs and things

This small hover fly is in the genus Platychierus. That's the nearest I can get to ID

This was easier. It's a Common Green Shield bug. It was on a leaf in the Bay tree.

Unusual to see in early Spring

Always good to see the Grape Hyacinths come out, They're a useful nectar source for early Bumblebees

Green Alkanet is a bit of a thug in the way it spreads rapidly through deep tuberous roots and takes over the bare earth, But its a very useful source of nectar for early bees. So it makes me loath to clear it, I will chop it down when the main flush of flowers ends.

;

On 20th March, I spotted this 7 Spot Ladybird on the Coronilla bush, the Coronilla is doing particularly well this year. Where I thought it may have been declining, it was actually thriving. the location of planting it close to the house in its sheltered spot has been good for it..

I took this photo of the Lungwort on 21st March, I haven't seen the usual sight of hairy-footed flower bees yet. Perhaps it's too soon for them.

Also on 21st March, this is a branch of the Sweet Cherry tree; the clusters of flower buds look set to be a good crop.

The 20th March, the Victoria Plum blossom has begun. This was the first flower to show.

18th March I was pleased to record the Yellow-legged mining Bee

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Common Name	Scientific Name	Key Identifying Features
7-Spot Ladybird	Coccinella septempunctata	The classic red ladybird with seven black spots. Very hardy and often the first to emerge.
2-Spot Ladybird	Adalia bipunctata	Smaller and more variable, but typically red with two large black spots. Common in gardens and shrubs.
Pine Ladybird	Exochomus quadripustulatus	Small, black, and domed with four red spots. The front spots are often shaped like commas or kidney beans

Here is a table with the Ladybirds I have seen in the past two weeks.

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23rd March this Toad was discovered under a plank of wood near the greenhouse rain bucket.

Nursery Web spiders are regularly spotted in the lush green foliage plants, this is Alkanet, they have also been seen on Geranium.

This Sphaerophoria sp caught me out, it's not 'scripta' but another species requiring microscopic inspection to learn the species.

A Red tailed Bumblebee Bombus lapidarius found the flowers of the Green Alkanet on the 28th of March

I almost overlooked this small hairy larva. I discovered that its the larval stage of the Garden Tiger Moth. A great win for the garden wildlife score.

I was reluctant to believe the identification by members of the NHM UK Biodiversity group. They assured me that it's the female Hairy-footed Flower Bee. It seemed too large. I conceded eventually.