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What Insects might you find in a
hedge?
Birds |
Butterflies | Insects |
Mammals
Insects
SPIDERS
Spiders, scorpions, harbestmen, mites and ticks constitute the class Arachnida. They differ from insects as the body is divided into two main parts instead of three , as in insects. Arachne was the name of a maiden in mythology who was transformed into a spider by the goddess Athena. All spiders eat insects. They all have 8 legs. They have an abdomen, a waist (pedicle) and below that a cephalothroax.
SPIDER (CRAB Xysticus cristatus)
They run backwards and sideways in addition to forwards. They do not spin webs or chase prey but hunt by waiting in a good situation where insects may alight, frequently on a flower. They change colour like a chameleon in order to deceive the insect. Other species are coloured in browny shades and hide in dead leaves awaiting their prey.
SPIDER (OVAL BUSH Enoplognatha ovata)
Their lives are spent just a few feet above the ground on shrubs or in hedges. The web is simple with only a few criss-crossing threads, almost invisible. It spins a silk-lined shelter for itself amongst a few leaves fastened together with more silk and having access to the web. The length of the body is about 7mm, when resting. The eyes are raised on large tubercles and the legs are brown.
WASPSThey scavange for sweet food and also collect nectar. They have annual life cycles like bumblebees. An overwintered mated queen emerges on good days in April or may and start nest-building. Bees use wax for nest cells, wasps use paper made by chewing wood fibres collecte from posts. The nest is make of horizontal combs joined together by pillars. Young wasps are fed chewed up insects.
WASPS (GALL)
It lays its eggs in oak roots which as a protection against the larva, produce swelling or galls on the roots. The larvae feed on the tissue of the gall and in Spring tiny wingless female gall wasps emerge. They crawl up the tree and lay their eggs in the buds . The eggs are produced asexually as male gall wasps are not required to fertilize the eggs.
WASPS (SOLITARY)
There are 53 species in Ireland. They often nest on sunny banks like the solitary bees or can use hollow stems and rotting wood.. Inside the cells of the nest the female places food for her youngg, often insects or spiders which is stunned but not killed so it can stay fresh. Sjome species store aphids (greenflies, others leafhoppers, spiders, caterpillars and flies). An egg is put on top of the food store.