These are for British bugs to use, there are several along the hedgerow. Bug houses and hotels are usually made of wooden pallets and reusable terracotta pipes, pine cones, moss, bamboo, dead wood and bark.
Bamboo is good for solitary bees, dead wood is for the larvae of wood-boring beetles, such as the stag beetle and fungi.
Crevices under the bark is good for centipedes and woodlice.
Straw and hay is good for burrowing and hibernation. Bug houses can be topped off with dry leaves for bugs, it acts like forest floor litter.
Spiders and woodlice like getting under decaying wood and bark.
Bug houses can also include space for hedgehogs and toads.
I've helped a school group build one and they're great, want to make one for my garden next!
I think bug houses are used for the conservation of native species. There are many bug houses available on the market for beneficial insects (ladybirds, lacewings, bees) but a larger bug hotel like the one pictured I think has to be home-made.
Yep, there's also one of these at the New Forest Wildlife Park, where visitors are encouraged to add more sticks and things (the park is set in woodland) to the pile.
Very important IMO to have these sort of things around zoos, not just helping the local wildlife but perhaps encouraging the occasional visitor to do the same. Not just the captive guests to think about.
