The chirping of grasshoppers is a familiar sound from Irish meadows and roadside verges during the summer months. Undoubtedly contributing its song to this chorus is the Common Field Grasshopper, which is one of our most common and widespread grasshopper species. It is found throughout Ireland, although it does becomes scarcer in the far north. Common field grasshoppers belong … [Read more...] about Common Field Grasshopper (Chorthippus brunneus)
Invertebrates
Common Octopus (Octopus vulgaris)
The common octopus is an extraordinary creature. It's a molluscs – a relative of the slugs and snails you find in your garden, and along with the cuttlefish, squid and nautilus, belongs to a group of marine molluscs known as cephalopods. Literally translated the name means “head-footed”, and the bizarre-looking cephalopods certainly look as if their tentacle-like arms sprout … [Read more...] about Common Octopus (Octopus vulgaris)
Common Earwig (Forficula auricularia)
Earwigs really don’t deserve their bad reputation. The name earwig is derived from the old English ‘earwicga’ which means ‘ear beetle’. These harmless little insects are plagued by the perpetuation of an age-old superstition that earwigs crawl into the human ears at night and burrow into the brain to lay their eggs. In reality any earwig in the vicinity of a human ear is … [Read more...] about Common Earwig (Forficula auricularia)
Common Wasp (Vespula vulgaris)
There are few animals in Ireland that provoke as much negative sentiment in people as the common wasp. It’s right up there with the brown rat as one of the nation’s least favourite animals. In truth though wasps are only really a nuisance between late August and the end of September. For the rest of the year, unless we inadvertently disturb an occupied nest, we’re generally … [Read more...] about Common Wasp (Vespula vulgaris)
Woodlouse (sub order Oniscidea)
Woodlice are fascinating, often much maligned little creatures that are found all over Ireland. Turn over a rotting log or large stone in the garden and you’ll probably find a teeming mass of woodlice underneath, attracted by the moist conditions that they need to survive. There are some 3,500 species of woodlice in the world, with 32 recorded here in Ireland. The more common … [Read more...] about Woodlouse (sub order Oniscidea)
