Round-up

The Spotted Orchids have reached maturity now, with nearly all the flowers open. I prefer them in the early stages, but I'm still delighted to have any at all.




This is the pupa of one of the Ladybirds. Due to the size (around 6 mm.) I'm plumping for 14-spot, but I have it in a container and I'll let it go once I've made the correlation.


Ringlets are a July species and I'm seeing a few every time I'm out. The underside shot shows clearly where the name comes from.


One of the labyrinthine twists in my personal history is that I failed latin at an early age and wasn't able to pursue my first choice career in biology - I went into computers instead. Nowadays I use more latin than most people. A couple of years ago I coined a (deliberately) bad piece of latin to announce my first encounter with the fungus Ergot. 'Cogito Ergot sum' : 'I think I have found some Ergot'.

It's the dark purple bit on the Sweet Vernal Grass, by the way.


This very small (10mm.) Tachinid is everywhere at the moment. Keep in mind that every Tachinid is produced at the cost of a moth or butterfly caterpillar, and I see tens - perhaps hundreds - of these flies every time I'm out.