As mentioned in the previous post, this summer has been unusual with a surprising lack of a variety of creatures in the native garden. Others have noticed the same thing in this dry time. Butterflies are extremely scarce, just the odd Common Brown and Cabbage White, the few dragon and damselflies we had have disappeared at the time of writing, and spiders are hard to find. After seeing the numerous egg sacs It was expected to be a bumper season for St. Andrew’s Cross and Christmas Jewel Spiders, but they are nowhere to be seen. A small number of the latter did appear earlier but for some reason did not persist. Native bees however are having a good season with many more Blue-banded than we have previously seen. Several other species are also active and these Lasioglossum (Chilolictus) lanarium bees and an attractive tachinid fly are finding the coloured Xerochrysums a good resource.
