Lovely invert friends from my Welwyn Garden City Garden.

Despite a ting Garden which is entirely slabbed I attract an impressive array of insects to my little patch in Panshanger!

April 13th 2025

Red mining bee Osmia bicornis. These were congregating en masses around my insect houses this weekend and one landed in my watering can, necessitating a lovely 10 mins spent drying off on my hand.

Nesting in the hollow stems of last years vegetation, crumbling mortar and holes in cliffs, this species is reported as common but vulnerable to a too early garden tidy.

It breaks my heart how many are probably killed en masse in development sites around the country when cleared in winter. So often, common and widespread assemblages are given no real consideration beyond some perfunctory enhancements which all too often are generic and neither use nor ornament.

But how long will they remain common for? Common these days is often a misnomer with very little not experiencing decline amidst the grim reality of an invert apocalypse.

But, at least this little fellow seems happy in the green and lush suburban landscape of the garden city.

#entomology #ecology