Notices by Richard Jones (bugmanjones@techhub.social)

Anthophora plumipes (= feather-footed flower bee), male, always a herald of spring. In the garden ignoring the chickens just now.

First ink cap of the year. My Dad always used to forage and eat these but my Mum was always too squeamish since most of them grew on cow pats. He ate with impunity being teetotal, but combined with alcohol it causes nausea and sickness. It blocks part of the enzyme digestion chain causing aldehyde poisoning. It used to be used to treat alcoholism.