26 Tuesday Dec 2023
Tags
British flies, British insects, British spiders, insect larvae, invertebrates, larvae in leaf litter
As happens every year, I found many invertebrates I’ve not been able to identify, especially from riffling through the leaf litter. Perhaps one of you will recognise one of these creatures but, even if you don’t, I feel they deserve their moment in the spotlight.
19 Saturday Nov 2022
Posted in insects
Back in September 2021, after a little leaf-turning produced examples of eggs and larva, I blogged about The lacewing lifecycle. But that was one of the green lacewing species, so I didn’t initially connect the tiny larvae shown in the photos below with lacewings – in fact, I thought they were leafhopper larvae but, despite a good search through the images on the British Bugs website and other online image resources, I wasn’t able to distinguish which species. So, as I often do, I posted images on Twitter and asked for help (I’m going to miss that place if/when it finally dies!).
Turns out, the little critters are the larvae of the Dustywing or Waxy lacewing, one of the Coniopterygidae species. Trouble is, around 460 species have so far been identified and the only way to really nail them down is to examine their genitals under a microscope. I am happy to remain ignorant and let these little creatures live their lives, though I am pleased I can now, at least, recognise them as lacewing.
08 Tuesday Jun 2021
Tags
British insects, insect larvae, larvae on Guelder rose, larvae on Oak, Oak sawfly, Oak sawfly larvae, Viburnum beetle, Viburnum beetle larvae
Seeing these two different species of larvae was a good reminder to me that not all ‘caterpillars’ are butterflies or moths.
This first is the larva of an Oak sawfly (Periclista lineolata) that was happily munching away at a delicious young Oak leaf.
And these other little nibblers, above and below, covered in dots and dashes and munching on the leaves of Guelder rose, will grow up to be beetles, Viburnum beetles (Pyrrhalta viburni).
I doubt I’ll ever see the adult Oak sawfly, as they seem rather elusive, but I have more chance of spotting these beetles as adults so must remember to keep an eye out for them in July and August.
earthstar 
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