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Tag Archives: Devil’s-bit scabious

261/366 Searching the scabious, 2

17 Thursday Sep 2020

Posted by sconzani in insects, wildflowers

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Tags

British butterflies, British hoverflies, British insects, butterflies, Devil's-bit scabious, hoverflies, insects on scabious

One of the side benefits of searching the scabious for rare bees (see yesterday’s piece, Searching the scabious, 1) is that my search also revealed how many other insects were enjoying the essential late summer-early autumn food supply provided by the beautiful wildflower, Devil’s-bit scabious. Amongst them were these five butterflies and a moth: Large white, Red admiral, Small copper, Small tortoiseshell, Small white and a Silver Y.

200917 butterfly large white
200917 butterfly red admiral
200917 butterfly small copper
200917 butterfly small tortoiseshell
200917 butterfly small white
200917 moth silver y

And also these five hoverflies: Eristalis intricarius, Helophilus trivittatus, Sericomyia silentis, Volucella pellucens and Volucella zonaria.

200917 hoverfly eristalis intricarius
200917 hoverfly helophilus trivittatus
200917 hoverfly sericomyia silentis
200917 hoverfly volucella pellucens
200917 hoverfly volucella zonaria

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260/366 Searching the scabious, 1

16 Wednesday Sep 2020

Posted by sconzani in insects, plants, wildflowers

≈ 3 Comments

Tags

bees on scabious, Bombus pascuorum, Bombus terrestris, British bees, British wildflowers, Buff-tailed bumblebee, Bull-headed furrow bee, Common carder bee, Devil's-bit scabious, Lasioglossum leucozonium, Lasioglossum zonulum, Megachile ligniseca, White-zoned furrow bee, Wood-carving leafcutter bee

In recent weeks, when the weather has been fine and the air relatively still, I’ve been spending time searching the Devil’s-bit scabious for bees. Not just any bees, but four scarce and endangered bees. This is part of Buglife’s ‘Searching for Scabious’ project, which

aims to improve our understanding of the distribution and conservation status of some of Wales’ rarest and most threatened solitary bees – the Large Scabious Mining Bee (Andrena hattorfiana) and its associated cuckoo, the Armed nomad bee (Nomada armata), and Small Scabious Mining Bee (Andrena marginata) and its cuckoo, the Silver-sided nomad bee (Nomada argentata).

I wasn’t familiar with these bees and am not very good at bee identification in general but Liam Olds, Buglife’s local conservation officer, has put together an excellent explainer video, which can be accessed on YouTube, so I thought I’d join the search.

Unfortunately, I haven’t managed to find any of the scarce bees at the two local sites where Devil’s-bit scabious grows in abundance (and neither has Liam, which was reassuring for me re my search skills but bad news for the bees). The bees I did find most commonly were the appropriately named Common carder (Bombus pascuorum) (below, left) and the Buff-tailed bumblebee (Bombus terrestris) (below, right).

200916 common carder
200916 buff-tailed bumble

Liam very kindly helped to identify the other small bees I found. These lovely little furrow bees are either the White-zoned furrow bee (Lasioglossum leucozonium) or the Bull-headed furrow bee (Lasioglossum zonulum) – the two species are too similar to tell them apart without closer examination.

200916 Lasioglossum leucozonium or zonulum (1)
200916 Lasioglossum leucozonium or zonulum (2)

I also found several of these more distinctive individuals, the Wood-carving leafcutter bee (Megachile ligniseca). You can find out more about them, and watch a little video of their nest-building skills, on the BWARS website. Meantime, I’m heading back to the scabious for another look.

200916 Megachile ligniseca (1)
200916 Megachile ligniseca (2)

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243/366 Wildflower oddities

30 Sunday Aug 2020

Posted by sconzani in nature, wildflowers

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British wildflowers, Common knapweed, Devil's-bit scabious, odd-coloured wild flowers, pink-flowered Devil's-bit scabious, white-flowered Common knapweed

I’ve mentioned before here on the blog the white flowers of the usually pink-flowered Common centaury (Small and white, July 2020) and the blue flowers of the usually orange-red-flowered Scarlet pimpernel (The Pimpernels, July 2017). Today, I have another couple of wildflower oddities for you.

200830 pink devil's-bit scabious (3)

Pink Devil’s-bit scabious (Succisa pratensis)
As I’m sure you’re aware, the flowers of Devil’s-bit scabious are usually somewhere in the lilac, blue-mauve range but, at Lavernock Nature Reserve, there are quite a number of plants with pink flowers. I’ve read this is a natural variation but I don’t know if there is something specific that triggers the alteration in colour. At Lavernock, the pink-flowering plants grow right next to those with lilac flowers, so it’s certainly nothing to do with the soil.

200830 pink devil's-bit scabious (1)200830 pink devil's-bit scabious (2)

White Common knapweed (Centaurea nigra)
Also at Lavernock Nature Reserve, I recently found Common knapweed with stunning white flowers. This plant, of course, usually has flowers in the pink-purple range. Once again, plants with purple and white flowers were growing right next to each other, which presumably rules out soil composition as a factor. It’s a mystery, but a rather lovely mystery, to be sure!

200830 white knapweed (1)200830 white knapweed (2)

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259/365 Bumbling around

16 Monday Sep 2019

Posted by sconzani in autumn, insects, nature, wildflowers

≈ 4 Comments

Tags

bees, bees on scabious, British wildflowers, Buff-tailed bumble bee, bumblebee, Common carder, Devil's-bit scabious

I keep coming back to the Devil’s-bit scabious, I know, but it’s just so lovely and so full of life now that many of the other wildflowers have gone over. Bumblebees, in particular, seem to love feasting on it. I think these are Buff-tailed bumblebees and Common carders but don’t quote me!

190916 bumbles on scabious (1)
190916 bumbles on scabious (2)
190916 bumbles on scabious (3)
190916 bumbles on scabious (4)
190916 bumbles on scabious (5)
190916 bumbles on scabious (6)

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251/365 Sericomyia silentis

08 Sunday Sep 2019

Posted by sconzani in 365DaysWildin2019, flowers, insects, nature, wildflowers

≈ 2 Comments

Tags

#365DaysWild, Bog hoverfly, British hoverflies, Devil's-bit scabious, hoverfly, Lavernock Nature Reserve, pink scabious, Sericomyia silentis

It looks a bit like a wasp but this black-and-yellow-striped minibeastie is a hoverfly with the rather tongue-twisting name Sericomyia silentis. Perhaps Bog hoverfly would be easier but, in my opinion, its common name doesn’t do this little beauty justice.

190908 sericomyia silentis (1)

I spent a couple of hours today at Lavernock Nature Reserve, where the Devil’s-bit scabious is looking simply stunning and is attracting myriads of insects. I took lots of butterfly photos but thought to post one of the other little critters today. The Devil’s-bit is usually a lilac colour but some at Lavernock are this subtle shade of pink instead. Its nectar obviously tastes just as good!

190908 sericomyia silentis (2)
190908 sericomyia silentis (4)
190908 sericomyia silentis (5)
190908 sericomyia silentis (6)

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246/365 On the scabious

03 Tuesday Sep 2019

Posted by sconzani in 365DaysWildin2019, autumn, flowers, insects, nature, wildflowers

≈ 4 Comments

Tags

bees, Devil's-bit scabious, hoverflies, insects on scabious, Painted Lady, scabious, Small white butterfly

190903 devil's-bit scabious (1)

At this time of year, the delicate lilac tinge of Devil’s-bit scabious casts its imperial purple shadow across the meadows at Cosmeston and at Lavernock. I love it, and I’m not the only one.

190903 devil's-bit scabious (7)

It’s proving extremely popular as a late-summer early-autumn source of nectar for all manner of bees, butterflies and hoverflies. Here are a few I’ve seen in recent days …

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240/365 Brown is beautiful

28 Wednesday Aug 2019

Posted by sconzani in 365DaysWildin2019, insects, nature

≈ 2 Comments

Tags

#365DaysWild, British butterflies, butterflies, butterfly, Devil's-bit scabious, Meadow Brown

I am sometimes guilty of overlooking the ordinary but this photo, which I am very pleased with and now have as the desktop image on my laptop, reminds me of how truly lovely is the ‘ordinary’ Meadow brown butterfly. I tend to overlook it in favour of more colourful or unusual species, yet it is a butterfly that continues to grace the local meadows even now, when many of the other butterflies have gone for the year. I am rebuked by its beauty!

190828 meadow brown

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On the scabious

31 Friday Aug 2018

Posted by sconzani in flowers, insects, nature, wildflowers

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Tags

#FloralFriday, bees, British insects, British wildflowers, bumblebees, Devil's-bit scabious, flies, hoverflies, insects on scabious, Lavernock Nature Reserve, Succisa pratensis

180831 devil's-bit scabious (1)

Devil’s-bit scabious (Succisa pratensis) has a beautiful flower that paints the wildflower meadows at Lavernock Nature Reserve in shades of purple lusciousness and provides some very welcome late summer nectar and pollen to a host of insects, particularly bees, flies and butterflies.

180831 devil's-bit scabious (5)
180831 devil's-bit scabious (2)
180831 devil's-bit scabious (3)
180831 devil's-bit scabious (4)
180831 devil's-bit scabious (6)

And that name? Well, the story goes that the devil was not pleased that the plant’s medicinal properties were healing the skin conditions of people suffering from bubonic plague and scabies so, in a fit of rage, he tried to kill off the plant by biting off the ends of the plant’s roots. Ever the party pooper!

180831 devil's-bit scabious (9)
180831 devil's-bit scabious (11)
180831 devil's-bit scabious (8)
180831 devil's-bit scabious (7)
180831 devil's-bit scabious (10)

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Lucky last?

05 Thursday Oct 2017

Posted by sconzani in flowers, insects, nature, nature photography, wildflowers

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Tags

butterfly quote, Devil's-bit scabious, Irish blessing, Painted Lady

171005 Painted lady on Devil's-bit scabious

May the wings of the butterfly kiss the sun
And find your shoulder to light on
To bring you luck, happiness and riches
Today, tomorrow and beyond.
~  an Irish blessing, to be sure, to be sure, to be sure

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What’s on the scabious?

16 Saturday Sep 2017

Posted by sconzani in flowers, insects, nature, wildflowers

≈ 6 Comments

Tags

bumblebee, Comma, Devil's-bit scabious, hoverflies, insects on scabious, scabious, Six-spot burnet, Small tortoiseshell, Small white

Perhaps it would be easier to ask ‘What’s not on the scabious?’ because it seems that almost every type of fly, bee, butterfly and beetle loves this plant, though that may also be because the Devil’s-bit scabious flowers in late summer – early autumn, when most wildflowers have finished flowering, and so it provides a last delicious taste of summer’s sweetness.

170916 6-spot burnet
170916 beetle
170916 Bumble bee
170916 comma
170916 Common carder & hoverfly
170916 helophilus pendulus
170916 Meadow brown
170916 Melanostoma scalare
170916 Sericomyia silentis
170916 Small tortoiseshell
170916 Small white
170916 unidentified bee
170916 unidentified hoverfly (2)
170916 unidentified hoverfly (3)
170916 unidentified hoverfly (4)
170916 unidentified hoverfly (5)
170916 unidentified hoverfly
170916 Volucella zonaria

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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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