In Love with France, At Home In Italy

My mother just celebrated her 88th birthday, so while it's still her birthday month, I need to fulfill my promise not to post any photos or stories about the many insects that share our home. Nevertheless, by looking at these essential tools of life in the Italian countryside, you can probably tell that bugs play a big role here. As a gardener, I've continued to be very interested in learning about the local insects, especially to find out who the good guys are, but I have not found much reliable information. When I explained my dilemma to one of the first visitors to our home, an elegant, diminutive lady who has a country place in Spain, she replied without hesitation:"For the first year, just swat everything!" That didn't sit so well with me (what if one of the spiders was Charlotte?), but I did invest in a flyswatter or two (that's a fliegenklatsche, if you buy them at Lidl, the German-owned store that we like). Next, ...