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Is it just me or has anybody else thought we've had a "quiet" summer for insects ?I was just talking it over with my mam the other day whilst sat in her lovely,flowered garden....she normally gets all sorts of creepy crawlies,flying creatures etc but this year,very few.What made me post was that I've just seen the first flutterby in my back garden all summer- a smashing,healthy looking specimen of a Red Admiral.I haven't seen any bees...very few ladybirds,the odd wasp maybe.There has been no shortage however of those pesky bluebottles,bringing untold havoc to the downstairs rooms as they wind you up attempting to dispose of them.Anybody else noticed a lack of......????

Thje butterflies do seem very late this year - no doubt affected by the wet "summer" we've had - a couple of decent weeks in late April and then enough rain to sort out the national drought over the next couple of months.

Daddy long legs are out now the nights are drawing in and turning chilly!The Facebook girls status updates are funny regarding Boris the Spider giving them a fright lol     

I've had enough of insects this year, ants (red and the others) and an invasion of flying ants too.

Think they have been eaten by the MASSIVE spiders around at the moment! I'm being terrorised on a daily basis

HelenG wrote: Think they have been eaten by the MASSIVE spiders around at the moment! I'm being terrorised on a daily basis Oh dear ! I don't mind these creatures myself......catch other undesirables,but it's the flying insects in particular which seem down in numbers(except for chrism !).....

I think they were all on the front of my car. Actually we have had a lot of butterflies this year including a lovely small blue one. Quite late on though ie now. Also I've seen recipes in the papers for blackcurrant things but ours are still flowering and only a few are ripe yet. Normally we've lots of insects (and field mice) feeding on the ripe/over ripe berrys.

Seems to be a few hatches around now, plenty of midge.

Maybe not the most interesting point of the day(and was in yesterday's Metro !),but this year is supposed to be one of the worst on record for butterflies.The giant arachnids however,can be seen in abundance in my bath and shower tray......harmless but highly entertaining as they attempt to negotiate the bath sides !

We had a devil's coachman in the house the other night, haven't seen one of them around here before. Think the dog must have brought it in. The wet weather isn't good for insects in general though.