Insects in the garden
On summer nights, insects that you won't notice during the day are an unusual spectacle of blinking lights.These are fireflies. Excellent living conditions in the garden are provided by mounds of leaves that lie untouched all year round. The insect's larval stage lasts for several years. During this period, fireflies like to hunt snails.Adult insects of both sexes have luminous organs at the end of their abdomen.Wingless females sit on plants and attract males with light. Adult insects do not feed and live shortly.
Warm and dry summer nights have even more charm when the air is filled with the music of concerts of grasshoppers and crickets.Loud noises are made by rubbing the wings or legs.
Insects spend them for a different purpose. Some advertise their advantages in this way. An important reason is also to mark your presence and emphasize the ownership of a specific area.A good sign is the chirping of a large green grasshopper in the garden, which eagerly eats flies and aphids.
Enemies of aphids
A small insect hovering in the air like a helicopter is often confused with a wasp or a wild bee. Hoverflies do not have stings, so they are not dangerous for us. In summer, they fly to flowers to feed on nectar and pollen, which is why they are important pollinating insects.In contrast, the larvae of predatory hoverflies are very voracious and feed on aphids. The female hovers carefully chooses the place to lay her eggs.It is always near a larger colony of aphids. The larva can eat up to 100 aphids a day.
Four to five generations of hoverflies may appear over the course of a season. Slender delicate golden-eyed, and above all their larvae, are also avid exterminators of aphids.The larva can eat more than 500 aphids and any number of their eggs to become an adult insect.
The golden-eyed house serves as a shelter for insects also in winter.Ladybugs are also happy to hide here.The golden-eyed and hover-headed flowers of yarrow, chamomile, fennel, fennel and many other plants lure the garden.
Snail hunter
With a bit of luck, under a flat stone covering a pile of stones in the garden, we can discover a slow worm curled into a ball.A snake-like, legless lizard eagerly hides under a pile of branches, in cracks in walls, in hollows between tree roots, also under planks and slabs.A slow worm in danger can throw off the tip of his tail to confuse the enemy attacking him. The favorite food of a non-poisonous reptile are earthworms, caterpillars, and, above all, naked snails. I usually look for them in the morning and evening.Slowworms spend winter sleeping underground in non-freezing places.This reptile is partially protected here.
Living space for frogs and toads
Garden owners most often resign from building a pond or pond because they are afraid of continuous work to keep the water clean. The danger of rapid water pollution concerns rather formal reservoirs planted with a small number of plants.A well-arranged biotope will easily cope with the problem of water purification even without our help.Even a small garden pond should be about 80 cm deep at its deepest point and a shallow coastal zone of water.
Frogs and toads can lay eggs in it if the water surface is at least partially overgrown. Various species of frogs hibernate on land or under water. Toads seek winter shelter in the garden. During the day, frogs and toads are very happy to hide in houses prepared for them.Small containers, e.g. ceramic, can also be used by useful amphibians as winter quarters. Only partially bury them in the ground and cover them with dry leaves.
Agile small mammals
It's hard to imagine that a mouse is a useful animal in the garden. But a shrew like her is for sure.Shrews are not rodent but insectivorous mammals and are related to moles and hedgehogs.
They are voracious animals, looking for food almost all day and night. That is why in the garden they are among the most important pest killers. They eat adult insects, their larvae and pupae, as well as earthworms and snails. They are easy to recognize by their long, pointed nose.Agile animals in winter hide mainly in crevices, burrows, dense bushes and piles of leaves or branches. In similar places, you can meet dormice, which are sleeping here by frost.Mobile rodents eat fruit and nuts.
Hospitable place for winged guests
Until recently, sparrows were considered the most numerous birds living close to people, especially in cities. There are fewer and fewer of them in new settlements, where they have few places to nest and it is harder for them to find food. The population of the mazurka, the field sparrow, is also decreasing.Small birds willingly inhabit dense shrubs and hedges, natural gardens on the outskirts of cities and in their vicinity.Sparrows are faithful to their place of birth, all year round they do not fly more than 500 m.
They choose places for nesting under the eaves of the roof on the eastern side of the house.They will appreciate placing a flat sandbox nearby and a shallow bowl of fresh water.
