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Tag Archives: Buttercup

You know it’s almost summer when …

25 Thursday May 2023

Posted by sconzani in insects, seasons

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Tags

British beetles, Buttercup, Cuckooflower, signs of summer, Swollen-thighed beetle

I’m sure you all have things that say ‘it’s almost summer’ to you – when you spot your first Swallow perched on an overhead wire or you hear your first screaming Swifts; when a particular flower blooms; when the morning light wakes you up earlier than your alarm; when you spot your first dragonfly of the year; when it’s warm enough to wear short sleeves. Well, one of the things that says summer to me is the appearance of these metallic-green mini-beasties, the Swollen-thighed beetles, in this case the males with the tell-tale swollen thighs, shown here on a cuckooflower and on a buttercup.

230525 swollen-thighed beetle

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135/366 Swollen thighs

14 Thursday May 2020

Posted by sconzani in insects, nature, wildflowers

≈ 2 Comments

Tags

British insects, Buttercup, Grangemoor Park, Oedemera nobilis, Swollen-thighed beetle, Thick-legged beetle

You know summer’s just around the corner when the Swollen-thighed beetles (Oedemera nobilis) start to appear. The Ox-eye daisies and buttercups were full of them at Grangemoor Park on Tuesday.

200514 swollen-thighed beetle

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Leafminer: Phytomyza ranunculi

11 Sunday Feb 2018

Posted by sconzani in insects, nature

≈ 2 Comments

Tags

Buttercup, fly, fly larva, fly puparium, leaf mine on buttercup, leaf mine on Lesser celandine, leaf mines, leafminer, Lesser Celandine, Phytomyza ranunculi

You might think there are no insects around in winter but you’d be wrong, as I’ve been discovering in the past week or so. In my checks for blooming wildflowers, I’ve seen the odd Lesser celandine and Buttercup flower and, looking more closely at the plants, I’ve noticed leaf mines on some. And where there are leaf mines, there are insects laying eggs and larvae developing from those eggs to create the mines.

180210 Phytomyza ranunculi (6)
180210 Phytomyza ranunculi (5)

These particular mines are created by Phytomyza ranunculi, an incredibly tiny fly which I haven’t yet seen. But I have seen – and can show you here – a larva and a puparium. I brought home a couple of Lesser celandine leaves, intending to take better photos of them, but I didn’t reckon on them shrivelling up overnight. On the positive side, when I picked up one leaf, a tiny larva was sitting underneath, presumably having popped out of the leaf as it dried up.

180210 Phytomyza ranunculi larva (1)
180210 Phytomyza ranunculi larva (2)

A couple of days later I brought home another couple of leaves, for the same purpose, but this time left them in a sealed container. The next day, when I opened it, I saw this tiny speck in the bottom of the container and realised a larva from one of the leaves must have pupated. I’m trying to hatch it so I – and you – get to see the fly. Fingers crossed!

180210 Phytomyza ranunculi puparium (7)
180210 Phytomyza ranunculi puparium (8)

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About me

sconzani

sconzani

I'm a writer and photographer; researcher and blogger; birder and nature lover; countryside rambler and city strider; volunteer and biodiversity recorder.

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