Little Tragedies

This is one of only two praying mantis ootheca that I know about that have survived the winter. It is on the inside fold of wind cloth that protected my winter vegetables. I have been keeping watch on it. This morning it was intact, but by late afternoon it had hatched. A bit disappointed that I’d missed seeing the nymphs springing out I took a macro of it anyway. That was when I discovered the tiny brown empty pupa cases of parasitic wasps. No praying mantis babies came from the egg case. This was quite a blow for me.

In addition the earth bumblebees (Bombus terrestris) have disappeared. Up to a couple of weeks ago there have been scores of them in my garden, mostly the big queens, but a growing number of small workers also. On a warm day there was a continual buzz in the air. Now I can find only the garden bumblebees (B. ruderatus). I notice that the neighbouring farmer has sprayed the broom when it was in flower. I wonder if that has destroyed the bees. But why are the garden bumblebees still here? They seem to be interested in the same flowers as the earth bumblebees.