Thaumetopoea pityocampa. Better known as Pine Processionary moth caterpillars.

These are seen in March / May when they come down from the pine trees that have been their winter home and feeding place, on the ground they form long chains, often many hundreds nose to tail as they look for soft soil to pupate in. Care should be taken not to handle them or allow your pets, particularily dogs to sniff them as they are highly irritant.

Pine processionary web spun in a pine tree, a web such as this can contain sveral hundred caterpillars.

Pyrrhocoris apterus, Fire bug, French names - Gendarme or Cherche midi, a type of Punaise. Eats fallen seeds and tiny insects (dead or alive).

Graphosoma italicum, another common Punaise. These are the insects commonly called "sheild bugs" in the UK.

Melanocoryphus albomaculatus. Another common red and black "shield bug" in France.

Eurydema dominulus. Yet another, this one is usually found on members of the cabbage family.

Corizus hyoscyami. Continuing with this theme, (by popular request), rarely found in great numbers, but on many different plants.

Lygaeus saxatilis. Lives on a number of different flowers, mainly Composites and Umbellifers.

Lygaeus equestris. Same as L. saxatilis.

Nezara viridula A green punaise or shield bug, this is in its primary larval stage, it doesn't have the markings in its adult phase.

Uses a number of plants and is often found on tomatoes, aubergines and haricot.

Nazara viridula, this is a photo of another larval transitional stage prior to being "adult".

Nazara viridula. Green adult, often changes to brown in winter.

Cinnarbar moth caterpillars on Ragwort.

A much maligned plant due to its toxic qualities for horses etc. It is however important for some 32 species which depend on it for their survivial.

Another group of plants with a bad name, thistles, but again very important for a number of species.

Cetonia cuprea. Although this beetle uses many different flowers, it is a good example of the value of thistles.

Larva develop in a hole in the ground or an ants nest.

Trichius fasciatus. Thistles again! Colour can vary from pale cream to orange. Larva develope in rotting wood.

Swallowtail caterpillar Papilio machaon, on fennel, often to be found on carrot plants where it will do no harm other than to eat a few leaves.

Swallow tail butterflies mating.

Psychidae, a group of moths where the caterpillar makes a case from pieces of grass and other debris which it carries around as protection.

Bee Orchid, Ophrys apifera var. aurita

Was a common plant of road and tracksides in much of France, still widespread but has suffered from herbicides and agricultural changes.

Ladies' tresses orchid. This orchid is late summer / autumn flowering, another victim of herbicides and agricultural changes.

Phasme or Stick insect,Clonopsis gallica. 3 species are to be found in France, the other two are Leptynia hispanica & Bacillus rossius.

Libellula depressa.Broad bodied chaser dragonfly.

Cicada or Cigale in French.

Shed skin - Cicada

Scutigera coleoptrata. This Myriapode is frequently found in houses in France, it's rather beneficial as it eats many other household pests.

Although it can in rare circumstances bite a human, its venom is not dangerous, in the case of humans it is only self defensive and their benefit as a predator is worth considering. In the first stage they have four pairs of legs, these are added to a pair at a time with each "moult", finally the adult has fourteen pairs.

Tortue de Hermann, Hermann Tortoise, Testudo hermanni,

This rare and endangered Tortoise is only to be found in France in the south, this one wandered into an English couples garden in Aude, Languedoc-Roussillon, and left again a few days later.

Notonecta glauca. Water boatman, La Notonecte.

Common bug of still water, active all the year and flies with ease in hot weather. Ferocious predator that is capable of eating larval newts, frogs and small fish.

Freshwater mussel shells left by the riverside, in this instance it indicates the presence of Musk Rats.

Webs from "flying spiders" decorating a field.

Hundreds of thousands of spiders all take to air at the same time to be blown to a new place helping them to spread and maintain a healthy gene pool.

One of the "flying spiders", they are in fact tiny.

Another "flying spider"

And yet another "flying spider".

Glow worm larva eating a snail. It's often the case that when you find an empty snail shell with no damage that it's been eaten by a glow worm larva.

Hole made by mining bee. Mining bees, or digger bees, (familys Andrenidae & Anthophoridae) nest in burrows in the ground.

Another mining bee hole, this one in a clay soil.

Here's a photo of a mining bee in the process of digging it's nest hole.

Red mason bee - osmia rufa

Holes in a log that have been used by Mason bees for laying their eggs.

This is something that anyone can easily do, just drill a few holes about 3cm deep and 4 to 8mm in diameter in some logs, placing these near your fruit trees will greatly assist pollination.

Honey bees making a nest on a tree branch.

Full view of the same honey bee nest.