In article ,
"John Hutchison" wrote:

Hello All,


Hope you're enjoying the summer as much as I am. I'm in the middle of
laying a patio, so sitting catching up on the posts is a welcome break

Whilst laying the patio, I noticed some strange insects that I don't
remember seeing as a child, so I'm struggling to name them...

They are between 8-15mm long (about 1/4" to 1/2" in old money),
predominantly black, with what looks to my eye to be a segmented carapace.
The legs are placed markedly towards the head area. Down each edge of the
carapace, there are 3 reddish dots or squares, sometimes with a small black
band dividing them along the length of the beast.

Any ideas what they are, and should I start chucking them to the birds?


TIA,


John



Don't know, but these sites might be useful:

www.bug-net.co.uk

www.insect-world.com

I kid you not, they are both real, but both require different info to
that you gave.

--

"I go online sometimes, but...everyone's spelling is really bad,
and...it's depressing"