National Insect Week | 21st

First Prize
Second Prize
Third Prize
Fourth Place
Fifth Place

The First Prize of £150 went to Barbara Mercer of Wigan, Lancashire, for her sensitive observation of a leafcutter bee in her garden. Barbara is a mixed-media artist with a general interest in nature, and she gathers found items such as feathers and twigs for her card-making when out walking her rescue dog. She says that her close encounter with the leafcutter bee made her realize just how ignorant she was of the many species of insect that are right on her doorstep, and that – rather than being ‘out to get her’ – the bee had far more important things to do.

‘A Shared Secret’ by Barbara Mercer

Even in the tiniest of gardens or yards there is potential to witness one of the many, many wonders of nature.

I was preparing wire supports for my tomato plants, when I suddenly noticed a bee flying past me. It disappeared, so I carried on with my work. Moments later it was back, but this time I noticed it was carrying a piece of green leaf beneath its body. It crawled into a small cavity in the yard’s wall where some of the mortar was missing, taking the leaf with it. It came and went several more times, meticulously filling the hole with pieces of leaf until the hole was totally filled. It checked out a few other holes before flying away, dismissing them as they were covered in cobwebs.

I had stood completely enthralled by this activity, so promptly went indoors to get a book to identify the bee. I came to the conclusion that it was a female leafcutter which was using the cavity as a nest for her grubs.

For me, it was one of those very special moments where I felt blessed that I’d had the privilege of witnessing nature in this way. I had been entrusted with this tiny insect’s secret. She had let me see where her precious babies were being hidden, and I valued this trust so much that I planted my tomatoes slightly further down the yard to avoid using the electric drill too close to her nest.

The Second Prize of £100 was awarded to Caroline Picking of Chelmsford, Essex, for her amusing recollections of student life in a house shared with ants. Caroline is a primary school teacher and is often required to appear utterly fearless in front of the children when repatriating insects that have wandered into the classroom, whilst actually having a fear of most things with more than two legs. Nevertheless she admires the tenacity of ants and, as miserable allies in the squalor of her student digs, she developed a respect for them. As a postscript to her tale, she notes that the hamsters staged a mass breakout and never returned – the ants were far more loyal!

‘Antertainment’ by Caroline Picking

As a student, I lived in a squalid house which suffered infestations of every creature from rats to slugs ... but the most entertaining were the ants. A colony had set up a veritable city in the kitchen, spreading out under the cupboards and sink. They provided us with endless entertainment! At first, we heard ants would never cross a line of chalk. We duly drew messages in chalk (very adult things such as ‘GO HOME ANTS!’) and watched lines of them picking out the paths. Then we learnt they hate cinnamon and, as this concealed the house’s unpleasant musty smell, we tried this too. It worked brilliantly – the ants were corralled into corridors. We added features such as Mount Everest (a plimsoll) and Lake Victoria (a saucer of water), extending trails of cinnamon across continents... The ants never put a foot wrong. We laid down treats like M&Ms which they struggled to bring home as prizes, often carrying them two-by-two. Eventually, our landlord demanded that our friends were evicted and put down ant-killer. It was tragic to watch them industriously collecting the fatal poison and scurrying home like proud Sherpas bearing pieces on their shoulders to feed to their pals under the sink. As they became more frantic and deranged by the effects of the poison we imagined domestic scenarios being played out under the floorboards, with adults desperately wondering what had happened to their precious babies... When they were wiped out, we bred hamsters, but they were never as entertaining...

The Third Prize of £50 was won by Sue Lemmon of Great Yarmouth, Norfolk, for the story of her first close encounter with a dragonfly. Sue has always been fascinated by all types of wildlife, large or small. Her female friends are amazed that she is not even in the least bit afraid of spiders and will happily pick them up if she wants to move them outside her house. This was, however, the first time that she had seen a dragonfly at such close quarters. She says: “The dragonfly was awesome: it looked so delicate and aerodynamically impossible and yet was such an accomplished flyer.”

‘Dragonfly Tale’ by Sue Lemmon

I had spent a hot and sticky morning cleaning the house, not a job of choice, but I’m afraid it’s necessary now and again! I called a halt at midday and took a drink into the garden to relax for a few minutes. It was a beautifully sunny, still day and as I closed my eyes and breathed deeply I felt the gentlest of brushes on the back of my hand. When I opened my eyes I was amazed to find that the most perfectly formed, iridescent turquoise dragonfly had settled there. It was quite a large specimen, probably two to three inches long and although I had seen them before at a distance I had never had such a close encounter. I scarcely dared breathe but there it stayed, giving me plenty of time to marvel at how incredibly beautiful it was. It remained with me for at least thirty seconds then sped off, leaving me highly honoured at its presence.

The runner-up in fourth place was Katrina Martin of Thetford, Norfolk, with her evocative childhood memories of sharing her grandmother’s cherry tree with its myriad residents, including those most maligned insects, the social wasps. Katrina is a student of natural history and wildlife biology at Anglia Ruskin University in Cambridge, and is treasurer of the Animal Respect Society there. She is mad about all creatures great and small, and loves spending time appreciating them and enjoying nature in general. She feels very lucky that she grew up in an environment in which she regularly encountered wildlife, and says that this had a major influence on who she is today, especially in developing her choices of lifestyle and academic study.

‘Wasps in the Cherry Tree’ by Katrina Fay Martin

As a young girl, there was nothing I loved more than visiting my Grandma’s enormous garden. Out in the Suffolk countryside in a beautiful little village I would spend many weekends there during the summer months, exploring an invertebrate world. In particular I would spend my time amongst the old cherry tree, which produced the most splendidly delicious fruit. The tree was absolutely mobbed with wildlife, from chirping birds to tiny fruit flies. One of my fondest memories of those summer days was sitting up in the branches of that gorgeous tree, sunlight streaming through the branches, and sharing my pickings with the many common wasps buzzing around me.

Thinking about it now, it seems bizarre of me to be so taken by these amazing insects, with the bad reputation they have for being so aggressive. But I experienced a different side to them. And I let them crawl all over my hands! I loved watching them rasping away with their mandibles at the sweet flesh still attached to the cherry pip that I had expelled from my mouth into my palm! They are such fascinating creatures and I would spend hours marvelling at them, in the innocent ways a child does.

Sitting here writing this, I now remember the first and only time I have ever been stung by a wasp. Several years older and in a swimming pool in Greece, I accidentally kicked one that was drowning. Naturally, I saved the poor thing from its predicament!

The other runner-up, in fifth place, was Gail Grant of Eskbank, Midlothian. Gail used effective verbal scene-setting to create a picture of a nine-year old’s exploration of wildlife in a country lane, and a well-paced mixture of observation and action to tell the tale of the excitement – and subsequent rueful reminder – of a youthful discovery. Gail has been interested in natural history for as long as she can remember and as a child she would often bring ‘house guests’ home, whether a sparrow entangled in fishing line or a particularly beautiful iridescent beetle. She says that if you have a mother who takes the trouble to visit the ‘beastie tree’ (a dead tree with a multitude of under-bark residents) when out for a walk, then there’s a good chance you’ll be hooked for life.

‘Make Friends and Irritate People’ by Gail Grant

A long hot summer, a small red bike, what more could you ask for at nine years old? Some really interesting creepy-crawlies perhaps?

The narrow sandy lane is the perfect hunting ground. The verges deep in dock, nettles and cow parsley are flanked by old, spider-filled hawthorn hedges. Here the air is still and thickly scented, but lie in the cool of the long grass with the bumblebee traffic humming above your head and who knows what unimagined creatures you may meet.

And yes ... what a find! A caterpillar, no doubt about that, but one with fur! Long silky brown fur. The lightest touch triggers a burst of speed, off the leaf and onto the finger. Sunlight gives the tips of the hairs a gingery brightness, reveals a shining halo of longer finer hairs and a row of white spots on the soft body within.

Oh just wait till they see this.

A long journey back, but what better way to transport your treasure home than in your pocket, carefully protected by a cupped hand.

Long after the furry friend has been returned to its leaves you have a reminder of your triumphant discovery ... in the shape of an itchy palm and a pocket-shaped rash on the leg...