It's insect week!

In honour of Insect Week 2025 (#StandTallForTheSmall), we've been thinking about our local bug population and how we can support it - and support it we must as one in three mouthfuls of our food depends on insect pollination.

There are many things we can all do, including plant for pollinators, avoid insect-harming pesticides or chemicals, build a bug hotel or log pile, get involved in the Big Butterfly Count. And don't underestimate what leaving a small patch of wilderness in your garden can do - the photo above shows ragwort, allowed to grow this year while the mower stays in the shed, hosting EIGHTEEN caterpillars, soon to transform into beautiful cinnibar moths!

To help Padbury's bugs (and all the things that depend on them), Greener Padbury has worked with local children to create bug hotels in the Muddy Toddlers area at the allotment, in the playground, in the Millennium Woods and at the village school. And our verges project is all about providing what these crucial workers need in an increasingly insect-hostile environment - pollinator-friendly plants and wider biodiversity. We hope they are being enjoyed!

Here are some great 'Did you know...' insect facts:

1. A ladybird might eat more than 5000 insects in its lifetime

2. Fruit flies were the first living creatures to be sent into space

3. Dragonflies have been on earth for 300 million years

4. Caterpillars have 12 eyes

5. Some male stoneflies do push ups to attract a mate

6. Grasshoppers existed before dinosaurs

7. Butterflies taste with their feet

8. Almost 100 species of orchid are solely reliant on the much maligned wasp as its pollinator. No wasp, no orchid...