Collioure_Bee

The thought had crossed my mind LOL. You are certainly right about being neurotic about it though and the whole idea is just too nice to miss.

Been reading up about the big insects and they are definately the Asian Hornet, horrid things, glad I ain't a real bee (the name is a reference to Brentford's nickname I hasten to add).

onlyonebrenda

Apparently you are supposed to report any sightings of the Asian hornet, as distinct from the local hornet, to your mairie as they are such a pest to native bees, which are already under threat from a rapidly spreading virus. (If bumble bees and bees die out we as human beings will die out too!) A local bee- keper has recently lost ten hives.
Did you know that ivy is a particularly helpful plant for bees?
Incidentally the noisy insects you referred to in your original post may be may bugs or june bugs as they are variouly called and are quite harmless.

Andrea50

Have just finished laughing at all this - although it was only 2006 it seems a lifetime away, but even the insects are remembered with fondness now I am stuck here!!

Those nasties that appear later in the year are called Aouters. Pronounced "ooters" apparently. So named because they appear in August (Aout, and sorry, can't be bothered with the accent thingy). They aren't easy to spot and you often only know you have been got at when it hurts. No easy answer, my french neighbour said "c'est la vie" which I presumed meant Live With It. Which we did. However, an experiment I did revealed that they are more likely to get you if attracted to you in the first place, so I made myself as unattractive as possible (not difficult) and just stopped wearing their favourite perfume which was Femme by Madame Rochas.

As my ex and I were not getting on by then, I also learned the trick of diverting attention from oneself to another target. Easy peasey, I just sprayed his shorts first thing in the morning before he was awake and voila! A hassle free day for me, and a pain in the a**e one for him.

See, there's always a way.

And yes, the butterflies are totally amazing. Was at Le Lac Vert near Catus where they have a lovely man-made beach etc etc. It was just wonderful, and I was just sitting there and three Swallowtails came right up and landed nearby, and one landed actually on my head. Ex took a snap, but not putting it on here, no way, as can't even be seen in daylight nowadays let alone in a bathing suit ......

Its all swings and roundabouts in this life.

happy bank holiday folks
Andy

cakey

hi, forum noob here, great site btw, Ticks hunt by carbon dioxide detection and usual lay in wait for the next victim along well worn tracks used by animals and of course humans too, and when you brush past in your fluffy walking socks etc they just hook on and the rest is history. As for the bee/wasp/hornet thing do as i do and make a paper mache'(spelling sry) hive (i can hear you all going "what the hell") but it works make one yourself or with the kids , theres plenty of pics on't tinterweb, hang it near where you sit on an evening or during the day and the wasps will not venture within 60 foot of it,(as they are very territorial) handy for those BBQ nights when you really dont want to be pestered by the ickle fellas.

hope this helps.

Jazzy n Lol

Wonderfully useful information there cakey, welcome to the forum

cakey

Glad i could offer some info, this site is brilliant a veritable melting pot of knowlage, i too am looking to re locate from yorkshire within the next 12 months with the family to start a fresh in france and tbh have spent most of the day on here reading all the posts, brilliant. Il be here quite a lot i think.

thanks and hi everyone.

val50

Hi there
good to have you join us - there are so many friendly, helpful people on here. Just know there will be lots of help if, and when, you need it

onlyonebrenda

Welcome Cakey. Of all things I would never have thought of making a mock nest. What a wonderful idea. Now, where did I put my Blue peter badge??? I'm also told that, unlike wasps, frelongs or hornets never nest in the same place twice. so if you have them in your walls as a friend has at present you can either tear your walls down or wait to the end of the season.
I went to one of the local fêtes recently and a man had a collection of birds' nests plus wasp and hornet nests. I had a bit of a chat with him. He was very interesting although unfortunately I don't know many French birds' names (and no that is not a cue for a comment from you Tres). Anyway I'd never seen a hornets' nest before. If you've seen a wasps' nest you 'll know it's quite pretty in its own way with sort of scalloped shapes. The hornets' nest has much bigger and less well formed scallops.
Incidentally what is the horrid little biter that burrows under people's skin here? I've just seen someone who'd been attacked and it looked horrible and painful and I'd like to avoid it if possible.

Collioure_Bee

Welcome cakey, the people on here have been really helpful to me and I am really glad I joined up on this site.
Brenda, I haven't heard of these things but will ask around for you.
There was a horrid black stingy thing flying across the beach yesterday, it landed on someone's pillow. Big, black and a couple of bright yellow spots. I had to stop her from leaning back onto it. Nobody knew what it was and didn't seem to care. Maybe I am just too curious. No it wasn't a Carpentr Bee either (the ones withe the beautiful blue wings), I've not seen one of those for a while now.

onlyonebrenda

Thanks CB
What you saw could have been an ichneumon fly. They tend to lay their eggs in other insects. I leave the rest to your imagination. Come to think of it my friend's problem with biters could have been one of those.
Haven't seen so many of the pretty insects around this year. No swallowtails so far, only a couple of humming bird moths and fewer butterflies in spite of two buddleia trees in the garden. Those butteriles I have seen look very much the worse for wear with very tattered wings. There seem to be fewer dragonflies too.

Jazzy n Lol

The 2 things that are famous for burrowing under your skin in these climates are 1) Scabies - treated by a lotion and 2) Bot fly - which lay eggs under your skin and the young feed on you before popping out. I lost 2 sheep to them and have a personal hatred against them. They occasionally infest humans but animals are more common. Scabies are caught from someone with the condition already, they are a small mite I believe.

Of course, there could be a myriad of burrowing creatures native to France I am unaware of, but these 2 are the most common in Britain.

treskillard

Amongst burrowing creatures native to these parts we find the Britbug known locally known as the petit aperero.

Jazzy n Lol

And its cousin the Ros Beef

onlyonebrenda

Er... What's an aperero? Or is this something I really don't want to know?

Collioure_Bee

Mmm not sure sure it was an ichnumen, looked wasp like in it's build and flight,albeit fat wasp lol.
Know what you mean about the lack of the pretty insects, have only seen one swallowtail too, and was only bemoaning the lack of wildlife I have seen here last night. Have seen three locust in last few days though. That or locust size grasshoppers of a light brown colour. Apparantly they come here on the winds from Africa.