Insects and other invertebrates

Bees, butterflies, moths, hoverflies and beetles — including which bee hotels actually work and which are ornaments.

5 of these 6 have a Great Britain Red List assessment we could verify. We say “not assessed” rather than inventing a category — it is not the same as saying a species is doing fine.

• Not assessed

  Buff-tailed bumblebee

  Bombus terrestris

  The UK's commonest big bumblebee. The queen has a buff tail; workers have white tails with a buff line. Nests underground, and now flies in winter.

• Not assessed

  Elephant hawk-moth

  Deilephila elpenor

  Pink and olive moth flying May to July. The caterpillar is what people find: 8cm, grey-brown, eyespots — alarming, and completely harmless.

• Not assessed

  Marmalade hoverfly

  Episyrphus balteatus

  A fly, not a bee — one pair of wings, and double orange bands on each segment. Its larvae are among the garden's best aphid predators.

• Not assessed

  Red mason bee

  Osmia bicornis

  Gingery spring solitary bee that carries pollen under its abdomen, not on its legs. The one species that really does move into a bee hotel.

• Green list

  Small tortoiseshell

  Aglais urticae

  Orange and black with blue-spotted margins, often found hibernating in a shed. Still widespread, but down 79% in abundance since 1976.

• Not assessed

  Stag beetle

  Lucanus cervus

  Britain's largest beetle. The male's antler jaws are unmistakable. Larvae spend years in buried dead wood, so a log pile is the answer.