Summer in the garden

There is a wonderful synergy between being interested in gardening and being interested in insects, but there can be tensions at times. This lovely Figwort Sawfly, Tenthredo scrophulariae, found my favourite verbascum today and I was torn between watching it and killing it. Of course I didn't kill it, so must wait for the larvae now and control them. There were lots of other 'destructive' insects to be observed today, including the Vibernum Leaf Beetle, Pyrrhalta viburni - actually hundreds of them! One of these features as my extra photo today. I'm relying on the birds to take lots of their larvae and happy to put up with a few holes in the leaves. Live...let live...and delight in the beauty!