A new Hedgerow

And a fine one. A long country lane running east-west with pasture on both sides, flanked by Ash, Hawthorn and Elder. The verges have been allowed to flourish unhindered and I saw many new species and a few old friends.


First, a new species to me, and a very scarce one. The Hogweed leaf-mining Phytomyza heracleana. A few Irish records.



The Parsnip Moth eats the flowers of Hogweed and other umbellifers. Once a group of florets has been consumed, they march off to find another unoccupied one. This one was about to be repelled by the inhabitant of the umbel to the top left (notice the hidden larva, level with its head, to the left.)


A hoverfly that I see very rarely, and photograph even more rarely: Cheilosia illustrata.


An Ectemnius sp. wasp. This one was nectaring, but the whole family are hoverfly-killers. Notice the hinged antennae that can be raised to cover the face. In the upper position the antennae give the face a yellow centre, like many hoverflies. The antennae also look much smaller in that configuration, and appear to emerge from the top of the head, just like a hoverfly. This allows the wasp to approach hoverflies without scaring them off. Reverse mimicry in action.


Earlier in the week I showed a female Ghost moth that came to light. This is the male. These are supposed to smell of goat, so I didn't bother sniffing it.


An as yet unidentified leafhopper. Work ongoing:

A fine hedge, and one that I'll return to soon.

Same again

Another thundery night, with warm, still, air between the showers, so I got another large batch of moths to light.

A nice pairing of the dark form of White Ermine - Spilosoma lubricipeda - (left) and Clouded Border - Lomaspilis marginata - (right).


Four new species for me: Buff Arches - Habrosyne pyritoides.


Barred Straw - Eulithis pyraliata:


Beautiful Golden Y - Autographa pulchrina:

The Flame - Axylia putris.


And one that I had last year: Heart and Dart - Agrotis exclamationis:

When you're out for a walk at the moment and you see a small cream moth flying along and then hiding upside down under leaves or grass, this is probably the culprit: Straw Dot - Rivula sericialis.

Thundery light

********** STOP PRESS **********

This shot was taken about 15 minutes ago. On 30th May I showed the immigrant Painted Lady butterflies. Tonight I found their larvae on Thistles on the hedgerow. The adults flew 2500 miles to lay their eggs on my patch. How exciting.


Last night was very humid and thundery. Lots of moths and other insects came to light:

First, one of the 'Minors'. I think these can't be reliably separated, so I'll call it Oligia sp. Quite small, at around 12mm. long.


Now a couple of Pugs. These are a nightmare to identify, but let's see how I go with these.

Foxglove Pug - Eupithecia pulchellata:


And Wormwood Pug - Eupithecia absinthiata:

Any and all corrections gratefully received.

And finally, the wonderful Green Lacewing - Chrysoperla carnea.

Happy birthday, dad

Emmelina monodactyla is one of the Plume Moths. These have wings that retract like a venetian blind when the moth has landed. A system of hooks and eyes keeps the wings in shape when in flight. I haven't worked out a benefit for this complex system, other than a very narrow profile when resting.


Another Episyrphus balteatus hoverfly that initially appeared to be looking for aphids, but this one was nectaring on the recently-opened Meadowsweet.


Greater birds-foot Trefoil has opened. I used to think that I had some Greater mixed amongst the ordinary, but every specimen that I have examined locally turns out to be Greater. Ordinary Birds-foot Trefoil is earlier and, in my experience, more coastal.

If at first you don't succeed...

The Lissonota sp. ichneumonids have started to lay their eggs in unsuspecting moth larvae hidden inside grass seedheads. I've been following these for a week, now, and yesterday I was rewarded with a couple of shots of the egg-laying taking place:

Notice the antennae being used to pinpoint (ouch!) the location of the larva.


This shot shows the ovipositor at the moment it was being retracted. It's finer than a human hair.


This shot appears to be of a male (of a completely different species):

Staying with parasitic insects, these two Tachinids were on adjacent Bramble leaves. It looks as if they were pointedly ignoring each other. I see a great many Tachinids, and this shows just how many larvae of moths and butterflies are parasitised each year.

Some leaf-miners are very easily identified as such. This is Agromyza filipendulae, on Meadowsweet.


But the mines of Phyllonorycter species can easily be overlooked. This is Phyllonorycter rajella, on Alder. The pupa is only 2mm long, so the adult moth will never be recognised as such in flight.


That's the year half over, and it was only just new year.

Aphids in trouble again

I noticed that the Knapweed was covered in brown aphids, so I settled down to see if any female hoverflies came along. Sure enough, a female Episyrphus balteatus arrived and as soon as she spotted the aphids she started to lay. The aphids are in trouble, since her larvae will consume them by the hundred.


Sometimes she laid her eggs quite distant from the aphids (but always on the same plant). At other times she laid a lot closer:


Spiders are the major gap in my knowledge. I must start on them next year.

I was getting acquainted with emerging specimens of Angelica, in preparation for the July flowering, and I spotted this mine of Phytomyza angelicastri:


A couple of additional images of Dactylorhiza orchids with slightly unusual markings. This one has very vague nectar guides:


And this one has nectar guides which are much redder than usual:

Moths and Beetles

A few more moths to light. First of all, Plain Golden Y - Autographa jota:



Riband Wave - Idaea aversata:


Flame Shoulder - Ochropleura plecta:


I had no idea that the female 14-spot ladybird was so much larger than the male:


And now we have it...Rhagonycha fulva, a Soldier Beetle. A clear sign that the nights are drawing in.