![\"What](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/RBJDFY5SGJEXHEQHSUBRHCSPCY.jpg\")
What sticks out at the end of its body is an ovipositor, not a sting <\/p>\nThis year a pair of hooded crows have nested somewhere near our garden near Derry (incidentally displacing the magpies who have ruled here for some years) and two of their young have obvious white patches. Will this disappear at their first moult? Dave Atherton, Derry<\/p>\n
It is not likely that they will. This is a condition called leucism, where the normal colour fails to develop in some of the feathers, leaving them white. It is not albinism, which is a complete lack of colour and would affect the bill and eyes too. This is a genetic condition, and two of the young have it. They may not survive till the next moult, as other hooded crows may not tolerate them as they look different. Nature is red in tooth and claw. <\/p>\n
What sticks out at the end of its body is an ovipositor, not a sting <\/p>\n
I saw this cr\u00e9atur beside the fifth tee box on Mahony\u2019s Point course at Killarney Golf Club on July 16th in the afternoon. It was deceased. I just wondered whether it was a queen wasp or something else. Mike Fuller<\/p>\n
It was something else. Wasps and hornets \u2013 which may indeed have yellow stripes \u2013 all have a very distinct waistline which separates them from the likes of this creat\u00far. This is a horntail, also called a sawfly or a woodwasp \u2013 Urocerus gigas. What sticks out at the end of its body is an ovipositor, not a sting. It drills (rather than saws) a hole in the tree with this and lays the eggs deep in the timber. The ensuing grubs feed on the timber for several years before pupating and emerging as adults looking for mates. No stinging of anything is involved with this insect.<\/p>\n
![\"The](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/UWX7YMYQV5ASNJ4WBIONZKYWCM.jpg\")
The Great Diving Beetle \u2013 Dytiscus marginalis <\/p>\n
I found these insects on the bumper of my car in this position recently. Both were dead. They were about 3.5mm long. Can you identify them? Mary Collins, Co Limerick<\/p>\n
Dorothy Hatten, as well as Hugh Sweeney in Donegal, also found similar corpses on their cars. These sightings are all of the Great Diving Beetle, Dytiscus marginalis. These live in ponds and lakes, and both the larvae and the adults are rapacious feeders, eating anything that moves in the water, particularly tadpoles and small fish. They can even nip humans if handled. Adults, which can live up to three years, fly around dusk and often seek out new waterbodies to colonise. They can mistake shiny car bumpers for reflective pond water with tragic results.<\/p>\n
![\"Borage](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/F6U347BY2BF5FL3XR7KWEF555A.jpg\")
Borage Borago officinalis can sometimes be found where it was never planted <\/p>\n
Do you have any idea what this plant is, which has sprung up this year among the cabbages? The bees seem to love it. John Joe Conneely, Drogheda, Co Louth<\/p>\n
This is Borage Borago officinalis. It is a perennial plant that is occasionally grown in gardens for culinary and medicinal purposes. It has escaped into the wild and can now sometimes be found where it was never planted, usually in the east of Ireland. The fresh leaves taste of cucumber and it has traditionally been used as a garnish for Pimms cocktails. But beware of over-indulgence \u2013 one of its medicinal uses was as a diuretic. <\/p>\n
![\"Here](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/BFS5NLUGTNAHFILDFOPFNPKMC4.jpg\")
Here the bee is caught in the act bringing the section of leaf back to its nest cavity <\/p>\n
What is this bee doing? I watched as it brought a piece of leaf into the tubular frame of a garden chair, several times. John Massey, Sutton, Dublin<\/p>\n
Kevin Haverty in Killimor in Galway has one as well in an old timber step in the garden. It is the leaf-cutting bee that was mentioned last week, under the image, sent in by Lee Hogan, of the circular holes in the rose leaves. Here the bee is caught in the act bringing the section of leaf back to its nest cavity, which, it would seem, is in the innards of the garden chair. <\/p>\n