New arrival...

I found this large (2cm long) and rather splendid bug on our bedroom windowsill, and took it to Pete for identification, as I didn't recognise it.
It's a Western Conifer Seed Bug Leptoglossus occidentalis, a recent arrival in Britain. It's native to North America, where it's a serious pest of conifer seed nurseries, particularly Douglas fir. It was originally restricted to the western parts of the continent, but over recent decades it has spread eastwards and is now found over the whole continent.

In 1999 it was accidentally introduced to Europe and spread rapidly. It was first recorded in Britain in 2007 when a single adult was found in a classroom at Weymouth College. There seems to have been a mass migration across the English Channel in 2008 and 2009 and it's now been recorded from counties as far north as Nottinghamshire and West Yorkshire. This is the first one that's turned up in our Peterborough garden, though Pete caught one in Cambridge Botanic Gardens last year.

It belongs to the 'squash bugs' but can be easily distinguished from native species by it's large size, reddish brown body, transverse white zig-zag line across the centre of the wings and characteristic swelling on the hind leg. The adults feed on cones and inflorescences of a variety of coniferous trees. Although it's a pest in North America so far it hasn't caused any severe damage in the UK, and mostly seems to inhabit parks and gardens.