Teresa said we should kill this insect we found on a log near Kiltegan, Wicklow, in case it was an Asian hornet. I saved it on the basis it was a European hornet. Which of us, if anyone, was right? Austin O’Carroll
Neither of you, I am afraid. That is a woodwasp, also called a sawfly, not any sort of hornet at all. But I was wrong myself in my reply to Una Smart a few weeks ago, by saying that Asian hornets were not found in Britain or Ireland.
At least one Asian hornet at the time of writing has been found in Cork, while there have been Asian hornet nests in Britain since 2023 – 53 nests have been found and destroyed there this year so far. In some cases, the nests were discovered when workers fitted with tiny transmitters were tracked back to their nest, which could then be destroyed.
RM Block
I spotted this beautiful butterfly on a sea holly plant that grows in the sand dunes of Bishop’s Quarter beach, Co Clare. What is its name? What attracts it to the spiky sea holly? Frank Russell, Ballyvaughan
It’s after the drink. While butterflies cannot feed as adults – they do all their eating as caterpillars – they are able to get energy from drinking nectar from flowers. This is a male common blue butterfly, whose wings have stunning clear blue uppersides with a black edging. Females have a border of orange crescent marks on the uppersides of all four wings. Eggs are laid on bird’s foot trefoil, which is common on sand dunes.
My husband found this creature in our garden in early August. We have never seen anything like it before and would love to know what it is. Toni McLoughlin
This is a regular August question as this large caterpillar attracts a lot of attention. It is an elephant hawkmoth caterpillar, which, in a relaxed state, has a trunk-like snout that gives the insect its name. However, when alarmed, the snout is withdrawn back into the eyespot region, it swells up and sways menacingly from side to side. Not at all what the predator that thought to attack it was bargaining for, and they leave it severely alone. It feeds on fuchsias, willowherbs and bedstraws.
I spotted this lovely butterfly in my garden recently. In fact, I am seeing more butterflies around this year than I have in last few years. Are things improving for them? John Maloney, Dublin
This is a red admiral butterfly, which is a summer migrant. It overwinters in north Africa, and species expansion each summer means that it gets here by July. Its larvae feed on nettles and there are lots of them about now ready to turn into these glorious adults. They are still arriving here too; hundreds of them were seen arriving in Carnsore Point in Wexford during the first week of August. The good summer weather this year has helped our common butterflies to recover after two bad years. They won’t fly in wet weather and so couldn’t meet and mate. Land-use change is still making life difficult for our rarer species.
We saw this fox around 6pm on the wall above Killiney Beach. The beach was still busy with people, but it didn’t seem to be afraid. It walked along the wall and the wire mesh close to where we were sitting. Was he hunting for his dinner or scavenging for leftovers? Maybe he could smell the BBQs farther up the strand. Odhran (8), Iarlaith (8) and Béibhinn (5) Dempsey
Foxes do scavenge along the shore and like cooked dinners, too.
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