261/366 Searching the scabious, 2

17 Thursday Sep 2020

Posted by sconzani in insects, wildflowers

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.

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

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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On the scabious

31 Friday Aug 2018

Posted by sconzani in flowers, insects, nature, wildflowers

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#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.

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!

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.