Small and hairy

09 Monday May 2022

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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.

220509 lackey (1)

The early instar (youngest) larvae don’t show the blue side stripe or ghoulish face, which make these larvae so distinctive as they grow.

220509 lackey (2)

Mating pair

06 Friday May 2022

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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.

220506 common blue butterflies

Golden dragon

05 Thursday May 2022

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British dragonflies, Broad-bodied Chaser, dragonfly, Libellula depressa

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.

220505 broad-bodied chaser

A new beetle

04 Wednesday May 2022

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British beetles, flower beetle, Malachite beetle, Malachius bipustulatus

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.

220504 malachite beetle

Even more piles of dirt

02 Monday May 2022

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British bees, kleptoparasitism, mining bee, nomad bee

Bottoms up! A mining bee heads into its burrow covered in pollen, food for its eggs when they hatch.

220502 (1) mining bee

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!

220502 (2) Nomad bee

Death in the meadow

30 Saturday Apr 2022

Posted by sconzani in insects, wildflowers

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British butterflies, British spiders, butterfly, Crab spider, Crab spider kills Orange-tip, Cuckoo flower, Orange-tip, Orange-tip male, Orange-tip on Cuckoo flower

Sometimes I can be a bit slow. During today’s walk, I was ambling along the edge of a meadow when I spotted a male Orange-tip butterfly flitting from one small patch of Cuckoo flower to the next. Then it stopped at one spot longer than usual so I walked quickly over to get some photos. I could see its tongue was out so knew it was feeding but, still, I was amazed at how long it was staying put on the one flower. And then I saw why …

220430 orange tip and spider (1)

The poor butterfly had been grabbed by a lurking, very well camouflaged Crab spider.

220430 orange tip and spider (2)

Spotted cranefly

29 Friday Apr 2022

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British craneflies, cranefly, Nephrotoma appendiculata, Spotted cranefly

Another day, another species of craneflies, another example of the next generation in the making. These busy beasties have been identified as Nephrotoma appendiculata, and can usually been found in areas of rough grassland.

220429 Nephrotoma appendiculata

50 shades of brown

28 Thursday Apr 2022

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British butterflies, butterfly, Dingy Skipper, Erynnis tages, skipper butterflies, Skippers

The latest butterfly species in my locale to flit up and say ‘Look at me’ is the Dingy skipper and, for all its supposedly dingy appearance, it’s a little cracker, a subtle blending of 50 shades of brown. And it seems to me that all the skipper species have attitude; they punch above their weight in terms of stroppiness, defending their territory with a tenacity that belies their diminutive size. Welcome back, little skippers!

220428 dingy skipper

Small but large

27 Wednesday Apr 2022

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British damselflies, British odonata, damselfly, Large Red damselfly

Our first odonata of the year are out and flying in the local landscape. I somehow missed seeing any Large red damselflies last year – I’m not sure how that happened – but I saw six in one day at the end of last week so I’ve well and truly made up for last year’s omission. I’m seeing reports of Large reds being spotted all around Britain, so I hope you’ve also managed to have your first odonata fix of the season.

220427 large red damselfly

White-letter hairstreak larva

26 Tuesday Apr 2022

Posted by sconzani in insects, trees

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British butterflies, butterfly larva, larva on Wych elm, White-letter hairstreak, White-letter hairstreak larva, Wych elm

In recent weeks I’ve been searching, unsuccessfully, for the eggs of Purple and White-letter hairstreak butterflies but … during Sunday’s woodland walk I did find this little beauty, my very first White-letter hairstreak larva. I was over the moon!

220426 white-letter hairstreak larva (1)

As you can see, its camouflage is excellent and I know I wouldn’t have spotted it if I hadn’t been looking so closely at the flower and leaf buds of this Wych elm. I couldn’t find any more larvae but I’ll return soon to this site for another look and, hopefully, will be able to re-find and observe this tiny creature as it grows.

220426 white-letter hairstreak larva (2)