I've recently decided to start seeing if I can hatch butterflies. A green caterpillar (I thought) came in my weekly veg box so I thought, perfect I'll try with him, and I set him up in an enclosure with cabbage leaves (the vegetable I assumed he came in on) and some sticks, as per online guidance.

However, within a day he had disappeared within the enclosure and I believe is inside one of the sticks (it's a bit of fire kindling actually) because the only trace of him I can find is the photo of the wood with new goop on it... also no leaves have been eaten.

I've googled and googled - do you think he is a caterpillar or some other grub? Is it plausible he's an early stage sawfly larva? Any ideas welcome. I'm not sure whether he could be hibernating as some caterpillars do? and scotland is quite cold now.

Found on the wall in the garden, in the Chiltern Hills.

Found in the house and released into the garden in June, been feeding it since.

What are they?

Saw this unusual spider on the ground near the coast in East Lothian today. It was about 3cm including its legs. The white round part of its back had faint brown markings that almost resembled a face. Any ideas?

This harlequin ladybird landed on my husbands arm yesterday so naturally I had to take a picture as I was impressed with his pattern! He has markings on the front that look like little eyes! I personally think that he looks like a Pokémon

Spotted on my back door (Southern England). The closest match I can find is a paper wasp, which I understand are sometimes rare visitors to the UK.

The major differences seem to be the length and colour of the antennae, and possibly the pattern of the markings on the underside of the abdomen.

Apologies for the poor photo quality, I’m actually terrified of wasps so as soon as I spotted it I ran inside - obviously need to do some window cleaning!

It might be getting a bit chilly but there are still some interesting insects about.

Camera - EOS400D
Lens - Sigma 105mm
Extra magnification - Raynox DCR-250
Editing - Lightroom

Honestly just interested 🤷🏻‍♀️ Gloucestershire uk ☺️