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Tag Archives: insects on fleabane

236/366 On the fleabane

23 Sunday Aug 2020

Posted by sconzani in insects, nature, wildflowers

≈ 2 Comments

Tags

British butterflies, British insects, British wildflowers, Common fleabane, fleabane, insects on fleabane, Pulicaria dysenterica

The local fields are ablaze with Common fleabane (Pulicaria dysenterica), which the Plantlife website says has a
‘curious scent, with hints of carbolic soap and chrysanthemum, [which] is an insect repellent. In the past it was kept in houses specifically for the purpose of driving away fleas. Bunches were dried and burned as a fumigant or hung in rooms.’
Well, it may be the bane of fleas and it may act as an insect repellent when it’s been dried but, from what I can see, when it’s alive and fresh, most insects love it!

200823 speckled bush-cricket

As well as that Speckled bush-cricket, I’ve found 9 species of butterfly and 1 moth nectaring on Fleabane flowers.

200823 b brimstone
200823 b brown argus
200823 b common blue
200823 b gatekeeper
200823 b painted lady
200823 b meadow brown
200823 b pyrausta purpuralis
200823 b small copper
200823 b small tortoiseshell
200823 b small white

And then there are the hoverflies and assorted other flies, bees and bumbles. It’s more like a magnet than a repellent.

200823 eristalis horticola
200823 eristalis pertinax
200823 Sphaerophoria sp
200823 nomada sp
200823 fly sp
200823 picture-winged fly
200823 Chrysotoxum bicinctum
200823 syrphus sp
200823 buff-tailed bumble
200823 helophilus pendulus
200823 honey bee

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The flower of the moment is …

03 Friday Aug 2018

Posted by sconzani in flowers, insects, nature, wildflowers

≈ 2 Comments

Tags

British butterflies, British wildflowers, butterflies, Common fleabane, fleabane, insects on fleabane, Lavernock Nature Reserve, Pulicaria dysenterica

The flower of the moment is Fleabane (Pulicaria dysenterica) or, at least it is at Lavernock Nature Reserve.

180803 fleabane

I’ve read that Fleabane usually grows in ditches and damp meadows so, despite the recent drought conditions, I guess there must be water somewhere below the wildflower meadows at Lavernock, as they are currently awash with these bright golden flowers. And, at a time when most other wildflowers have dried up and died off, the Fleabane is providing a much-needed source of pollen and nectar for butterflies and other assorted mini-beasties.

180803 bee on fleabane
180803 brimstone on fleabane
180803 comma on fleabane (1)
180803 common blue on fleabane (4)
180803 cricket on fleabane
180803 small white on fleabane
180803 small copper on fleabane
180803 gatekeeper on fleabane
180803 meadow brown on fleabane
180803 green-veined white on fleabane
180803 painted lady on fleabane
180803 red admiral on fleabane
180803 speckled wood on fleabane
180803 six-spot burnet on fleabane

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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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