Insects and other small treasures

We only need the windscreen test to know what is happening to insect life.

A recent analysis published in Biological Conservation reported “The world’s insects are hurtling down the path to extinction, threatening a “catastrophic collapse of nature’s ecosystems”. More than 40% of insect species are declining and a third are endangered. The rate of extinction is eight times faster than that of mammals, birds and reptiles. The total mass of insects is falling by a precipitous 2.5% a year, according to the best data available, suggesting they could vanish within a century.”

So we don’t take for granted the smaller occupants of our plot

Who knows what lives in the depths of the ponds, from where bubbles mysteriously rise

On the surface, where waterboatmen row by

there is evidence of metamorphosis

Above fly a variety of damselflies

One we have not seen before:

The spider that chooses this spot

can ensnare a colourful meal