16 Monday May 2022
Posted in insects
This new-to-me leafhopper, from Saturday’s woodland wander, has now been confirmed by the national recorder as Arboridia ribauti. When I checked the Aderyn database, I found there have been only two previous Welsh records, both in the Brecon Beacons. It’s amazing what a little leaf turning can turn up!
14 Saturday May 2022
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.
13 Friday May 2022
Posted in insects
“‘ello, ‘ello, ‘ello. What’s goin’ on ‘ere then?” I said to myself.
“We were out all evening flying about. Give us a break! We need some shut-eye,” squeaked the May bug, the Cockchafer (Melolontha melolontha), trying to hide its eyes from the glare. I took a few pics, then carefully replaced the leaves so they could continue their snooze.
12 Thursday May 2022
Posted in insects
They’re early, but I’m certainly not complaining. It was with huge surprise and supreme delight that I spotted my first two Small coppers for 2022, glowing in the grass at Cosmeston Lakes Country Park last Sunday afternoon.
10 Tuesday May 2022
Posted in insects
During a recent meander around Cosmeston’s fields, I found a new bug – or, more precisely, a new bug found me. I had been poking around the leaves of a mixed bag of bushes, during which time it must have flitted from a leaf to my sleeve. Meet Tachycixius pilosus, a very handsome member of the Cixiidae family, which can be found on deciduous trees and shrubs between May and July.
09 Monday May 2022
Posted in insects
Tags
British moths, caterpillars in a web, Lackey, Lackey caterpillars, Lackey larvae, Malacosoma neustria, moth caterpillars, moth larvae
In Saturday’s post we had the small and scary (if you don’t like spiders – personally, I thought they were adorable); today we have the small and hairy, a web of Lackey moth caterpillars (Malacosoma neustria), which can often be found at this time of year, their web wrapped around the twigs of various broadleaved trees and shrubs.
The early instar (youngest) larvae don’t show the blue side stripe or ghoulish face, which make these larvae so distinctive as they grow.
06 Friday May 2022
Posted in insects
Tags
blue butterflies, British butterflies, butterfly, Common blue, Common blue butterfly, Common blue mating pair, mating Common blue butterflies, Polyommatus icarus
Tuesday’s sighting of a single Common blue butterfly (Polyommatus icarus) was the earliest in my five years of butterfly recording, which could be due to climate change (apparently, many moths are appearing early this year as well), though it could also be that I’ve got to know my local area more thoroughly and know better where to look. Yesterday, though the weather wasn’t brilliant, I found four more Common blues, including this gorgeous mating pair.
05 Thursday May 2022
Posted in insects
Golden dragon sounds like the name of a Chinese restaurant but no! This particular golden dragon is a Broad-bodied chaser (Libellula depressa), my first dragonfly of the year and a glorious glowing beauty, I’m sure you’ll agree. Now that my long lens is out of action and I’ve only got my point-and-shoot camera for photos, I didn’t think I’d be able to get good dragonflies shots this year. But this dragon was busy munching on its lunch so I was able to get quite close.
04 Wednesday May 2022
Posted in insects
I thought a shiny green beetle with red ‘buttocks’ would be easy to identify – I should’ve known better. It seems the Malachite beetle (Malachius bipustulatus), named after the bright green mineral its colour resembles, can be mistaken for a similar beetle Cordylepherus viridis, though the thorax and head shapes are a little different. Looking at those features, and checking the Welsh records for both beetles, I’m fairly sure my find is a Malachite beetle but I’ll update this post if I’m proved wrong.
02 Monday May 2022
Posted in insects
Bottoms up! A mining bee heads into its burrow covered in pollen, food for its eggs when they hatch.
But, lurking nearby, is its kleptoparasite, a nomad bee that will lay its eggs in the burrow so its larvae can eat the mining bee’s food store. Sneaky!
earthstar 
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