Thistle tortoise beetle larvae

07 Thursday Jul 2022

Tags

British beetles, Cassida rubiginosa, Creeping thistle, faecal shield, insects on Creeping thistle, Larva carrying poo on back, Thistle tortoise beetle, Thistle tortoise beetle larva, weird beetle larva

This is one of the most bizarre things I’ve ever seen. These are the larvae of the Thistle tortoise beetle (Cassida rubiginosa) but, at a quick glance, they look just like little lumps of poo on the leaves of Creeping thistle. And that’s exactly what you can see because these amazing creatures employ a faecal shield as a protective device, carrying their own excretions above their back as a disguise. There are very few local records for this beetle but, as has happened to me before, once I found one – and so knew what to look out for, I then found more in other locations (including a couple of larvae without their shield), so this is another case of something being rarely recorded rather than actually rare.

220707 thistle tortoise beetle larvae

190/366 For the love of thistles

08 Wednesday Jul 2020

Posted by sconzani in insects, nature, plants, wildflowers

≈ 3 Comments

Tags

British insects, Cirsium arvense, Creeping thistle, insects on thistles, thistle

Many people would consider the thistle – any thistle, all thistles – to be a weed but one look at these photos will show just what a diverse range of insects find the humble thistle an essential source of food. From flies and hoverflies, bees and wasps, to beetles and butterflies, the Creeping thistle (Cirsium arvense) is a favourite of them all. And when the flowers are finished, it will be the turn of the birds to find nourishment in the thistle seeds. What an amazing wildflower this is!

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A bewilderment of thistles

12 Friday Aug 2016

Posted by sconzani in flowers, nature, wildflowers

≈ 6 Comments

Tags

Common knapweed, Creeping thistle, Lesser burdock, Spear thistle, thistle, thistle lookalikes

Last Floral Friday I was confused about geraniums; this week it’s thistles and things that look like thistles that are causing my befuddlement.

160812 thistles (14)

It seems there are thistle lookalikes, like Lesser burdock (Arctium minus agg.) and Common Knapweed (Centaurea nigra), though admittedly, they don’t have thorns but the flowers are very similar. And then there are plants that have ‘thistle’ in their names that don’t look a bit like thistles to me: Smooth sow thistle (Sonchus oleraceus), for example, that looks more like a dandelion, and Globe thistle (Echinops sp.), which looks like a cross between a thistle, a teasel and an allium. And then there are the numerous varieties of actual thistles to decipher. Which genus is it: Cirsium, Carduus (Latin for ‘a kind of thistle’), Silybum (yes, really!) or Onopordum? And is it Spear thistle (Cirsium vulgare) or Creeping thistle (Cirsium arvense) or Milk thistle (Silybum marianum) or Scotch thistle (Onopordum acanthum)?

160812 thistles (13)

I think you can see why I’m not even going to try to identify these photos. I’m going to remain bewildered and simply enjoy their wonderful structures and gorgeous colours.