The Broad-bodied chaser is a common dragonfly that can be seen in summer around ponds and lakes, and even in gardens. It lives up to its name: its flattened body gives it a fat, broad look.

Traditionally a small finch of woodland and scrub, it appears that the lesser redpoll is now moving into our gardens. It has a streaky brown body, red forehead and black bib, and mostly feeds on…

With ginger hairs, dark banding and a cream tail, the Narcissus bulb fly looks like a bumble bee, but is harmless to us. This mimicry helps to protect it from predators while it searches for…

The Speckled bush-cricket, as its name suggests, is covered in tiny, black speckles. It can be found in scrub, hedgerows and gardens throughout summer. Males rub their wings together to create a…

The Yellow slug lives up to its name - its yellow body is mottled with grey patches. Often found in gardens and damp places in houses, it can be considered a pest, but is an important nutrient…

As its name suggests, the zebra spider has the familiar black-and-white stripes of a zebra, making it very distinctive. It can be found stalking its prey on rocks, trees and walls, particularly in…

A ferocious and fast predator, the Devil's coach horse beetle hunts invertebrates after dark in gardens and on grasslands. It is well-known for curling up its abdomen like the tail of a…

A regular in gardens, hunting around compost heaps and under stones, the brown centipede is a common minibeast. Despite its name, it has 15 pairs of legs - one on each segment of its body.

The comma has distinctively ragged wing edges, which help to camouflage it - at rest, it looks just like a dead leaf! It prefers woodland edges, but can be spotted feeding on fallen fruit in…