Nuts

[Paul mabbott]

I've been collecting my philberts (cobnuts - domesticated hazels) for the first time since we planted the trees - squirrels have eaten them in previous years. Thanks to the neighbourhood cats - whatever else they do they don't eat nuts (or apples) and they occasionally dine on squirrel ....
I digress, what I've been struck by is the enormous amount of invertebrate life hiding away in the calcyces of the nuts - mostly unidentified but I've found springtails (Collembola), mites, three species (probably) of spiders, one earwig (the third from my garden this year - a record), a very fast-moving bug (mirid?), a centipede, a millipede (julid), many woodlice, two tiny slugs and one snail and a 7-spot ladybird (Coccinella septempunctata).
Good places to look .....

[honeybee]

yeah ladybirds love them, I spose it's a nice little place for them to hide. My mum who is part squirrel has been got a few times by earwigs! painful when they get you under the nail!

[Paul mabbott]

Which part of your mum is squirrel?
I've never seen ladybirds on hazel in the autumn before, perhaps because I haven't looked. They often appear briefly on growing hazel tips in early summer - coinciding with the aphids and weevil larvae?

Originally Posted by honeybee

yeah ladybirds love them, I spose it's a nice little place for them to hide. My mum who is part squirrel has been got a few times by earwigs! painful when they get you under the nail!

[honeybee]

haha, the hazelnut eating bit, always embarrasing me climbing up trees! Always always see ladybirds on them.