The Bug Group takes an in depth look at the bugs around us and why they're important, together with practical exercises to illustrate this. Identifying which bugs are insects and which ones aren't (not as easy as you think!), which helps develop observation skills and learning new words to describe the anatomy of insects. At one of our sessions, we concentrated on hoverflies and how they look like bees (but don't sting) are brilliant pollinators, their life cycle and how some hoverfly larvae eat common insect pests such as greenfly. We then made a hoverfly lagoon, where some species will lay their eggs, and by regularly inspecting them, we'll be able to study their development. Future topics include taking part in the national big butterfly count, a project involving earwigs and how they can control pests in the garden. Getting up close to slugs and snails with the Royal Horticulture Society's "Making Friends with Molluscs" initiative and making shelters for ladybirds to overwinter.