Following on, small praying mantids found some of the other plants good places to wait for prey. Here are some pictures of other colours of this striking garden plant, some with attendant mantids. As usual, click images to enlarge.

And back to our original colour with a bright little clerid beetle.

This year some plants of the commercial variety of Xerochrysum bracteatum were grown for colour, and also for their ability to attract butterflies and other insects. For some reason this summer,  butterflies have so far been few and far between, and none have visited the flowers, but there have been other compensations. Two species of drone fly, Eristalinus and Eristalis species have found this particular colour irresistible, and have certainly been efficient pollinators. Different insects have been photographed on the other colours and will be featured in another post, but without further ado here are the drone flies. Click to enlarge.