Well done, you have found all the Bugs in the Beds, and found the name of the last bug by putting all the letters in order…
…and you’ve found a gatekeeper butterfly!
Gatekeeper butterflies are often found around flowers and grasses that grow long around gateways and along field edges, so they can look like they are guarding or patrolling boundaries! The Gatekeeper caterpillars eat lots of different grasses – like many butterfly species, Gatekeepers need long grass to breed and survive.
In the Old Pond Garden, Gatekeeper butterflies enjoy the nectar-rich flowers, though they like wild plants such as ragwort and wild marjoram best of all.
They have two dark spots with two white flecks on their wings which are supposed to look like eyes, to deter predators.
Rebecca of Rebecca’s Butterfly Farm tells us all about Gatekeepers, from egg to butterfly:
If you spot any real live bugs / creatures / insects in the Old Pond Garden today, try to take a photograph and find out what it is. We’d love to see it, so if you post on Instagram you can tag us: @cabahs_hortisoc and use the hashtag #BugsInTheBeds
This page is part of the ‘Bugs in the Beds’ trail running on the Old Pond Garden, Charlton House, on 21st May 2023.
Charlton and Blackheath Amateur Horticultural Society 