I found these mushrooms in our garden in Connemara. There are quite a few groups of them. Should I be worried? – Jackie Uí Chionnam, Ráisín na MainIoch, Co Galway
They are shaggy ink caps, also called lawyer's wig. They are edible when young and the gills are still pink, before black appears.
I snapped this day-flying moth in the middle of October; please let me know its name. – Bobby Carty, Belmullet, Co Mayo
It's the silver Y moth, occasionally tinged with purple like yours.
We were repotting some plants when we spotted this bee in a nest at the bottom of a pot. It was vibrating and alive. Was it hibernating? – Odran Cafferkey, Whitechurch, Co Cork
It is likely a bumblebee queen hibernating.
This looks like the lavender beetle you featured earlier, though without the pyjama stripes. Is it in the same family? – Melissa Newman, Strokestown, Co Roscommon
It looks like the bloody-nosed beetle, so-called because it exudes a drop of red liquid when alarmed. It is a leaf beetle.
I found these on Dollymount beach; they are about 3 inches long. Can you tell what they are? – Gráinne Walsh, Clontarf, Dublin
They are sea squirts and are found all around the coast.
I found this beautifully coloured, mussel-looking, squid-like creature on the beach at Carrowniskey, Louisburgh. I've never seen anything like it before. – John Geary Rosmoney Westport, Co Mayo
They are buoy-making barnacles, a bit like goose necked barnacles. They are at home in warmer waters of the Atlantic and Pacific, and are sometimes stranded on western coasts after southwesterly winds. Eye on Nature had reports for the first time this year.
When cleaning the nesting box I found that the blue tit had built under a wasps' nest. – Thomas Sweeney, Bray, Co Wicklow
[ viney@anu.ie ]
