Author Archives: sconzani

Up close with a Hornet

23 Monday May 2022

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This is the closest I’ve ever got to a European hornet (Vespa crabro). Now that I’m without a long lens and only using my Olympus point-and-shoot camera, I have to get within a foot, often closer, to get reasonable images. So, I was quiet and my approach was slow and steady, and the Hornet didn’t seem bothered by my presence, luckily.

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I wasn’t sure what this queen was doing on the ground but I have just been reading on Wikipedia (not sure how reliable it is, but looks well referenced) that Hornets use soil when building their nests (‘trace amounts of silicon, calcium, iron, and potassium were found’ in nest fibres) so perhaps she was mineral gathering for her latest construction project.

First and second

22 Sunday May 2022

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It’s amazing what a bit of rain can do. I’ve been watching the rosettes of Common spotted-orchids in various locations over the past week or so as their leaves flesh out and their flower spikes develop but I was still surprised to see this year’s first two plants with open flowers during my morning walk.

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They may be common but they are truly glorious, and I can’t wait for the time when the meadows are full of their flowers.

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Jewels in the trees

21 Saturday May 2022

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Tiny specks of metallic green and red caught the light as the sun emerged from behind large fluffy clouds and touched the leaves of an Oak tree. But what were they? Even when I edged closer, I could barely make them out, so miniscule were they. Turns out these are parasitoid wasps belonging to the superfamily Chalcidoidea, and probably from the genus Eulophidae, but that’s as far as the experts online could go without microscopic examination of these startling creatures. An article on the Natural History Museum website begins: ‘Described as “gem-like inhabitants of the woodlands by most never seen nor dreamt of”, chalcidoids include some of the most beautiful insects on the planet’, and I think you can see why.

220521 Eulophidae parasitic wasp

The Brimstone, the vetch and the ants

20 Friday May 2022

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Two for the price of one today: a lovely female Brimstone butterfly, which I was really happy to catch feeding on Common vetch.

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But, lurking beneath the flower, you may be able to spot a small creature. It’s an ant and, if you’ve ever looked closely at the flowers of any of the vetch family (Common, Bush, Tufted, and the vetchlings), you may have noticed they all prove attractive to ants.

220520 vetch and ants (2)

I’ve only recently discovered the reason for this: these plants all have extrafloral nectaries (EFNs), tiny glands on the stems and other areas of a plant, where nectar is secreted. The vetches aren’t the only plants to have these EFNs – according to a report on the University of Florida website (and there are many other scientific papers online, if this subject intrigues you), EFNs have been found in over 2000 plant species. Scientists don’t seem completely sure why plants ‘feed’ ants in this way, though it may be a means of rewarding ant species for their protection against the plant-munching larvae of other insect species.

Cool cats

19 Thursday May 2022

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Butterflies, moths, sawflies – all have larvae that look like caterpillars, cats. It’s that time of year when I feel compelled to check any leaves with holes to try to find the hole-maker, and so I’m finding lots of cool cats. These are just a few of the recent leaf-munchers I’ve discovered, some I can identify, some I can’t but that’s not always important: Lackey, unknown, Mirificarma lentiginosella, unknown, unknown, Drinker, Orange-tip, and Copper underwing.

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A migrant returns

18 Wednesday May 2022

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Today’s guest has travelled thousands of miles to be here with us today (and is, understandably, looking a little jaded after such a long flight). Distinguished guests, please give a warm welcome to the Painted Lady!

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I’d seen a report from the Suffolk butterfly recorder on Twitter on 16 May that, a few days previously, Painted Ladies had been seen ‘in their thousands streaming through Spain from north Africa’, so I’ve been keeping an eye out for the first to reach us here in south Wales. It’s a migration miracle!

A crow companion

17 Tuesday May 2022

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I had company as I walked very slowly along the west paddock paths at Cosmeston Lakes Country Park yesterday. This Carrion crow is one of a pair that frequents the area and, as they are fed almost daily by a local visitor, they’ve become quite used to quiet humans. I confess I have given them seed from time to time and I’m sure crows are smart enough to recognise individual people, so it may also have been hoping for a treat from me. No such luck, but it seemed to be finding plenty of tasty morsels amongst the glorious Bird’s-foot trefoil as we walked along together.

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Twayblades

15 Sunday May 2022

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You could’ve knocked me down with a feather when I spotted these Twayblades (Neottia ovata) during this morning’s walk. I’ve visited this place at least once a month for the last five years, probably more frequently at this time of year to look for butterflies and other insects, yet I’d never noticed these orchids before.

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And there were plenty of them – 20, 30, possibly more. Their green colour does mean they blend into the background of other plants but still. It was a lesson, to always pay attention … because just look at the beauty I’ve been missing!

220515 twayblades (2)

The return of Zorro

14 Saturday May 2022

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If you’ve been following along here for a while, you might remember last year’s ‘first for Wales’ find, the distinctive marks on leaves of Wych elm trees of the Elm zigzag sawfly (Aproceros leucopoda) (Zorro comes to Wales, October 2021). For the past couple of weeks I’ve been monitoring the trees where I first saw those marks and, yesterday, found them again, with the larvae that create them in situ, happily munching away on the elm leaves. In fact, following a good look around the area, I found larvae on six Wych elm trees (and there were other trees I couldn’t access), and then found a single larva on a Wych elm at Cosmeston, perhaps half a mile away. It will be interesting to see how quickly these creatures spread through the local landscape.

220514 elm zigzag sawfly larvae