INSECTS are headline news at the moment because of their dramatic decline (‘The end need not be nigh’, August 4) and rightly so. They can survive without us, but we cannot survive without them. We are at a time of year when we literally take them under our skin— summer into autumn is when we are most likely to get bitten, stung and sucked. Ants in your pants at a picnic, a wasp on your glass, midges driving you indoors at a barbecue or a vicious cleg (horse fly) whacking you on the back of the leg in the garden.
Some are seeking food, some are defensive and others are darn well aggressive; most are irritating, some are painful and a few can even be lethal. At these times, we are not so charitable to our arthropod friends. Whether it is at work, play or even asleep, odds on one or more of these critters will get you, from the largest vespa to the minute midge or mite. It doesn’t matter, either, if you live in the countryside or the town—no one is immune. As someone who has lived and worked in the countryside all of his life, as a gamekeeper on different estates across the country, I have been bitten, stung and sucked by most of the creatures on this list.
Esta historia es de la edición September 15, 2021 de Country Life UK.
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Esta historia es de la edición September 15, 2021 de Country Life UK.
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Kitchen garden cook - Apples
'Sweet and crisp, apples are the epitome of autumn flavour'
The original Mr Rochester
Three classic houses in North Yorkshire have come to the market; the owner of one inspired Charlotte Brontë to write Jane Eyre
Get it write
Desks, once akin to instruments of torture for scribes, have become cherished repositories of memories and secrets. Matthew Dennison charts their evolution
'Sloes hath ben my food'
A possible paint for the Picts and a definite culprit in tea fraud, the cheek-suckingly sour sloe's spiritual home is indisputably in gin, says John Wright
Souvenirs of greatness
FOR many years, some large boxes have been stored and forgotten in the dark recesses of the garage. Unpacked last week, the contents turned out to be pots: some, perhaps, nearing a century old—dense terracotta, of interesting provenance.
Plants for plants' sake
The garden at Hergest Croft, Herefordshire The home of Edward Banks The Banks family is synonymous with an extraordinary collection of trees and shrubs, many of which are presents from distinguished friends, garnered over two centuries. Be prepared to be amazed, says Charles Quest-Ritson
Capturing the castle
Seventy years after Christian Dior’s last fashion show in Scotland, the brand returned under creative director Maria Grazia Chiuri for a celebratory event honouring local craftsmanship, the beauty of the land and the Auld Alliance, explains Kim Parker
Nature's own cathedral
Our tallest native tree 'most lovely of all', the stately beech creates a shaded environment that few plants can survive. John Lewis-Stempel ventures into the enchanted woods
All that money could buy
A new book explores the lost riches of London's grand houses. Its author, Steven Brindle, looks at the residences of plutocrats built by the nouveaux riches of the late-Victorian and Edwardian ages
In with the old
Diamonds are meant to sparkle in candlelight, but many now gather dust in jewellery boxes. To wear them today, we may need to reimagine them, as Hetty Lintell discovers with her grandmother's jewellery
