insect

Only weeks earlier I’d run into a tarantula on the trail’s edge clutching a still-living insect in its long furry arms — several hikers were hovering over it, snapping photos with paparazzi-like fervor.

This includes the insect Rhodnius prolixus, which like mosquitoes have piercing-sucking mouthparts that penetrate skin.

The next morning, Mr Branscombe - armed with insect spray, gloves and other garden tools - checked it over and found no further stowaways.

Landscapes with native plants, on the other hand, will require less water use and less pollution from gas-powered lawn mowers and offer better support for our threatened birds and insect pollinators.

Traditionally, nut farmers have tackled the insect with chemical pesticides, or by destroying “mummies” — almonds left over after harvest.