Hi, I’m Iris Skipworth and I’m 10 years old. I live
very near to Hulme Community
Garden Centre and I love looking for all the types of small
creature that
you can find there. It’s amazing what you can find if you look
hard enough.
I take particular interest in the pond creatures and have taken a
lot of pictures
of what I have found there. My dad has taken pictures of lots
of the insects
and butterflies around the Garden Centre.
The trouble is that there are so many types
and different species,
that it was difficult at first to know exactly what my
finds were.
My mum was told about an Open University website called ISpot
that
wanted people to send them as many photographs and descriptions
of creatures as
possible – and if you are not sure what they are, there are
experts who can help
you identify them.
So here are some of the photographs that me
and my dad have taken
so far of the amazing wildlife at the Hulme Garden
Centre.
If you want to know more about the
ISpot recording forum, why not
visit the
website at www.ispot.org.uk.
(I have taken all the photographs too)
Here's what I've found ...
Gypsy Cuckoo Bumblebee – Bombus
bohemicus.
Cuckoo bumblers take over the nests of white-tailed bumblebees
killing the
queen and leaving the workers to rear the young cuckoos.
They have a preference for feeding on honey-dew secreted by aphids
and can
be seen sucking it off the leaf surface; they are rarely found at
flowers.
Lays its eggs on rotting meat (or in the open wound of an animal!)
About 5mm long – a formidable predator which can prey on insects
many
times its size
One of thousands of different types of true bug
– this one preys on apples
Hoverfly – Sphaerophoria
sp.
Common hoverfly of open grassland and urban wasteland, though
less often
seen in the north of
Common Shiny Woodlouse – Oniscus asellus
Has a strong exoskeleton and seven pairs of legs,
but are born with
six pairs. They have antennae that reach about half of
their body length,
which they use to feel around in their dark
environment.
Speckled Wood Butterfly – Parage
aegeria
More common in woodland as the name implies! But becoming more
common
further afield.
Small Cabbage White Butterfly – Pieris rapae
Its caterpillars can be a pest on cultivated cabbages, kale, radish,
broccoli and horseradish.
Flat worm
Leech
Pound snail
Shrimp
Snail egg sac
Tadpole
Water fleas
Water skater
