5th July 2025

Let's hear it for Hogweed (Heracleum sphondylium)! Yesterday, in the morning sunshine, the Hogweed flowers along the footpath to Crixhall Court were alive with Common Red Soldier Beetles (Rhagonycha fulva), mostly in mating pairs. There was a secondary cast of hoverflies, flies, pollen beetles and many others. Such an important native plant and good to see encouraging numbers of insects in this NFF landscape.

Common Red Soldier Beetles on Hogweed