Sun's back

After a couple of weeks of rain, sleet and hail, things have warmed up again. Various Solitary Bees have been nectaring, and I spotted my favourite bee - Andrena cineraria - as she gathered pollen from a Dandelion:

The solitary bee Andrena cineraria

I always think they look like they're wearing Barbarians rugby jerseys. Here's a side shot:

Andrena cineraria

Andrenas (and other families of Solitary Bees) lay eggs in their own nesting tunnels, and although they might form communal 'villages' of individual nests, the female feeds only her own larvae with pollen. Nomada sp. Cuckoo Bees are ever present near the nests, hoping to get an opportunity to nip in and steal the pollen store when the female is out foraging.

Bilberry (locally called Mulberry) has flowered:

Bilberry flowers

Bilberry is a vital food source for a number of insects, most notably the Green Hairstreak butterfly. I like the way the unopened flower can sometimes contain water droplets:

Unopened Bilberry flowers

I have a number of different species of Fumitory on my patch. This is Common Fumitory, which gets its name from the grey-green foliage which can look a little smoky:

Common Fumitory

The local Willows are all in full leaf now, so it's time for the various Willow Leaf Beetles (Chrysomelids) to appear. This is Lochmaea caprea, which I happened to spot as it sunbathed on my recycling bin (which happens to be right under a Willow):

Willow Leaf Beetle - Lochmaea caprea

The Willow leaves will soon be showing the attentions of the beetle larvae as they eat off the top surface of the leaves.


I also spotted a few Bibio sp. (St. Marks Flies), which usually emerge around St. Mark's day (April 25th), so we're still running slightly ahead of schedule this year despite the last two cold weeks.

Nearing 1400 species

The Spotted Orchids are now well advanced, with many specimens to be seen in the right places. The first is a good 'clean' Common Spotted Orchid:

Common Spotted Orchid

This second specimen - which was growing very nearby - has features of both Heath Spotted Orchid (the frilly lower lip, with only a hint of a central tooth) and also Northern Marsh Orchid (the dark background colour)

Hybrid Spotted Orchid

As I was examining the orchids, I spotted an Eristalis hoverfly attempting to nectar. I realised I had to work quickly, so I rattled off a few shots, and was rewarded with this fine shot of the hoverfly with the attached pollinia from the orchid:

Eristalis hoverfly with orchid pollinia

The hoverfly has a short tongue, which means it has to force its head deep into the flower to attempt to reach any nectar. Unfortunately for the hoverfly, the nectar is located down a deep tube, and can only be reached by insects with a long tongue, so the attempt is always futile. But the pollinia, which contain the orchid's pollen, are very sticky and attach themselves to the hoverfly's face, causing the hoverfly to withdraw and fly off. It then flies off to another orchid and pollination takes place. I have occasionally seen hoverflies sitting on other plants, trying to remove the pollinia. Score: Orchids 1, Hoverflies 0.

The Willow Leaf Beetle Lochmaea caprea is very common on its host plant where the larvae cause extensive damage to the underside of the leaves:

Willow Leaf Beetle - Lochmaea caprea

The Devil's Coach Horse beetle - Staphylina olens - is one of a large and difficult family of beetles - the Rove Beetles.

Devil's Coach Horse Beetle

All beetles have a pair of wings that fold up inside an outer, hardened pair: the elytra. In the Rove Beetles the elytra are extremely short and the wings are folded several times to fit under their hard casings. I have marked the elytra in the picture above, and it is clear that some severe folding is required to pull the large wings into such a tiny space.

To give some idea of scale, the Willow Leaf Beetle would comfortably fit between the antennae of the Rove Beetle.


The wet early summer has been great for fungal rusts. Pucciniastrum epilobii is a common rust on Willowherbs; in this case Rosebay Willowherb:

Willowherb Rust - Pucciniastrum epilobii

New to me.

It's worth mentioning here that fungal parasites are a good indicator of close relationships between species: Rosebay Willowherb looks quite different from other members of the Epilobium family, but has the same fungal parasite.

New lough

A visit to a new location - an interesting blend of heath, bog and lake - yielded a decent set of images for today.

We're right in the peak of the Orange Tip butterfly season, and there were hundreds of them chasing, nectaring and egg-laying on their host plant: Cardamine pratensis. This is a male, and if you look closely, you can see a single orange egg just to the right of centre:

Male Orange Tip and egg

This is the first female I saw this year, although there were plenty at the location:

Female Orange Tip butterfly

Every plant had one or two specimens of either sex jostling for position:

Orange Tip males

Bog Violet is easily distinguished by its pale, rounded flowers and very round leaves. It's always found in boggier areas:

Bog Violet

This Flame Carpet moth was flying around in broad daylight, although I usually only see it late at night:

Flame Carpet moth

Staying with moths, this Drinker Moth caterpillar was basking on a large rock. I associate these with dry grasses and reeds.

Drinker Moth larva

The leaves on the Willow bushes are only just opening and already the Willow Leaf Beetle - Lochmaea caprea - has made an appearance. The black larvae will eat the upper surface of many leaves over the next few weeks.

Willow Leaf beetle - Lochmaea caprea

The black fly at the top of the picture is a male of one of the Bibio St. Marks Flies.

Gap between the showers

The Chrysomelid beetles are making a fine mess of the Willow leaves, only days after they have fully opened. This is Lochmaea caprea, and is confined to Willow.


Last week I showed Creeping Cinquefoil. This is its very close relative - Tormentil. Amazingly, I still have 3 species from this family to show in the near future.


As soon as the rain stops, the insects are back out cleaning themselves ready for their next flight. This is one of the Tenthredo sp. Sawflies. These are all strictly vegetarian as larvae and many are voracious predators as adults.


The wonderful, minute micromoth Glyphipterix simpliciella is one of the few to have a common name - Cocksfoot Moth. Its larvae live inside the stems of Cocksfoot grass and it is all of 4mm long. Check that on a ruler.


An amazing shot of a dead Holly leaf having been pierced in two places by the shoots of Horsetail, and being hoisted like a banner. The plant to the rear is Meadow Buttercup.


The end of a hoverfly. This spider had caught the fly and was in the process of beginning to wrap it up.


I have an expanding patch of purest white Bush Vetch in just one area. It appears to breed true from seed. I wonder when a sport like this becomes a (sub)species in its own right.

September Sun

At last, after 4 months of rain, we have had some sunshine.

That should bring the fungi out: this is Coprinus comatus, or Lawyers Wig. Edible and good (and they were).

And now one of the tiniest of fungi: Marasmius hudsonii. These grow only on dead Holly leaves:


The close-up shows the thick gills and hairs on the cap, which is about 2mm. across:


The Willow Leaf Beetle - Lochmaea caprea is about 7mm long:


Moths are still coming to light in small numbers. This appears to be November Moth - Epirrita dilutata, but I'd better put an agg. on that to be on the safe side.


This is also a new species to me: Frosted Orange - Gortyna flavago.