Top 20 Most Common Insects in Falkirk

The common carder bee (Bombus pascuorum) earns this name from its ability to be found almost anywhere. It isn't picky and can set up shop in a ditch or a meadow. During this time, it collects moss and combines it with wax to form their nests. They reach more than 100 individuals until they rapidly die off. Dramatically, the last surviving females and males leave the nest for greener pastures.

The upperside forewings are a bright orange with a dark outside edge border and with eight or nine black spots. The hindwings are dark with an orange border. Some females also have a row of blue spots inside the orange border and are known as form caeruleopunctata. The undersides are patterned in a similar way but are paler. The black spots on the forewings are outlined in yellow and the dark colouring is replaced by a pale brownish grey. The hindwings are the same brown/grey colour with small black dots and a narrow orange border. The caterpillars (larvae) are usually green, but some have a purple stripe down the middle of the back and along each side.

Despite its common name, only male specimens of common blue butterfly (Polyommatus icarus) can accurately be described as blue; the females are predominately gray-brown, with only a dusting of blue and a scattering of orange spots. The adults live for only three weeks before dying.

A popular pollinating species in European greenhouses, buff-tailed bumble bee (Bombus terrestris) is one of the more common species of bumblebee worldwide. This species displays comparatively high levels of intelligence, recognizing flowers by color and navigating several miles (if necessary) to return to the hive. Unlike many other bee species, the queen of a buff-tailed bumble bee hive will only mate with one male.

The painted lady is a migratory butterfly that spends part of the year in Northern Africa and then migrates to Europe during the warmer months. Although the adults feed on nectar from flowers, the larvae feed on the leaves of nettles and thistles.

The pale yellow bumblebee or bumblebee (Bombus lucorum) is a bumblebee living near the ground, which is widespread in Germany in open spots with few shadows. It has its ecological significance above all as a pollinating insect of many plants, many of which depend on the earth bumblebees as pollinators.

Named for its red-colored lower body, red-tailed bumblebee (Bombus lapidarius) is considered an important pollinator species for farmers in central Europe. This species is more egalitarian than other bumblebees: while the queen remains the dominant figure, there does not appear to be any form of hierarchy between worker bees themselves. The colonies are small, with fewer than two hundred workers at any time.

The common blue damselfly is named for the delicate blue color of the males, while the female is a pale tan. These insects are a crucial part of the ecology of freshwater habitats since they are mid-level predators that eat small larvae and invertebrates. In turn, they're preyed on by fish and larger larvae. This insect is highly susceptible to pesticide contamination of these freshwater habitats.

Ischnura elegans can reach a body length of 2.5 - 3.5 cm and a wingspan of about 3.5 cm. Hindwings reach alength of 1.4 - 2 cm. Adult male blue-tailed damselflies have a head and thorax patterned with blue and black. There is a bi-coloured pterostigma on the front wings. Eyes are blue. They have a largely black abdomen with very narrow pale markings where each segment joins the next. Segment eight, however, is entirely pale blue. At rest, the wings of most damselfly species are held back together, unlike dragonflies, which rest with their wings out flat. The thorax of juvenile males has a green tinge. Female blue-tailed Damselflies come in a variety of colour forms.Juveniles may be salmon pink, form rufescens; violet, form violacea and a pale green form. The colour darkens as the damselfly ages. Mature females may be blue like the male, form typica; olive green thorax and brown spot, form infuscans or pale brown thorax and brown spot, form infusca-obseleta.

Seven-spotted ladybug (Coccinella septempunctata), known in North America as the "seven-spotted ladybug," is the most common species of ladybird in Europe and the official state insect of five U.S. states. While not native to North America, it has established itself there after being introduced to control aphid populations. Its bright coloring deters predators, and it may also play dead or secrete foul-smelling liquids to discourage consumption.