Spotted Orchids

Much fuss is made in books about the various species of Dactylorhiza orchids, especially in relation to their hybrids. I recognise two local 'species': Northern Marsh Orchid - Dactylorhiza purpurella and Spotted Orchid - Dactylorhiza fuchsii/Dactylorhiza maculata. The reason I bracket the last pair is because I simply believe we have a continuum of variations, with one extreme looking like Dactylorhiza fuchsii and the other extreme looking like Dactylorhiza maculata. These are - in my opinion - all hybrids, since they are known to cross and back-cross, so what we have is a hybrid swarm, with all variations in petal shape and colour being present in more or less the same locality. The following Spotted Orchids were all found within a few metres of each other.

The first two are classic 'Common Spotted Orchids', but are very pale:


The next specimen is more towards the 'Heath Spotted Orchid', but still with a single tooth on a wide, rounded base:


Another variant has extremely elegant flowers which are slim in all the parts.

A few years ago, I carried out an extensive survey of my local orchids. The result is here:

homepage.eircom.net/~hedgerow6/orchids.htm

To further fuel the debate, I also think that Spotted Orchids vary according to micro-climate (humidity, soil type, etc.) and that the precise variation depends on locality (your mileage may vary).

A (little) bit of sun

This bumblebee has taken up quite a bit of my time. It has 3 yellow bands, a white tail, long antennae, black hair above the eyes and no pollen baskets. The body hair is also long. I reckon it's the male of the cuckoo bumblebee - Bombus bohemicus. I showed the female back in April.

No identification problems with the Ringlet butterfly. These have been appearing as singles for the last week or so.

This Ichneumonid looks like Ablyteles armatorius, but so do 100 others.

This is the larva of the 14-spot ladybird. It's about 5 mm long.

More moths

Micromoths can be tricky to photograph: they tend to flutter around a lot, rarely resting. And, of course, they're rather small. I tend to see them in flight and then track them, trying to get a shot as soon as they land. This micro looks to be Elachista luticomella, but I need to get the id confirmed. These are leaf-miners on grasses such as Cocks-foot grass.


I always like to show images that give some indication of size. Here is the moth next to the very well known Froghopper - Philaenus spumarius. The froghopper, incidentally, is the inhabitant (as a nymph) of 'cuckoo spit', which can be seen on verges everywhere.


Another moth to light: It's the pale form of Riband Wave - Ideaea aversata ab. remutata.

It's interesting that I appear to be getting a procession of single specimens of species that I haven't seen before coming to the lights at my front door. I did change the lamp housings, but the bulbs are the same.

Colourful Bugs

True bugs - Hemiptera - are largely overlooked, perhaps because many are small, some are dull and they change their appearance dramatically as they mutate through several nymph stages, making them far too tricky to identify. Some of them are, however, absolutely stunning.

This is a nymph stage of Cicadella viridis, one of the leaf-hoppers, about 8mm long. The stunning purple-blue colour is absolutely accurate. The adult is a wonderful powdered turquoise, and I'll show it soon.

My first reaction on seeing the following shot was 'bird-dropping, full of seeds', but it quickly resolved into a cluster of nymphs of the Forest Shieldbug - Pentatoma rufipes. These are common enough, but I hadn't seen the 'huddling' habit before.


My next thought was that they were on some common prey, such as a caterpillar, but no: as I touched the leaf they dispersed, leaving nothing behind. Lurking close-by I found a later nymph stage of the same Shieldbug:



This is Calocoris stysi, one of the Mirid bugs:

Another new moth to light

This one has clearly been through the mill a bit, but I'm pretty sure it's Mottled Beauty - Alcis repandata. Another new one for the list: http://homepage.eircom.net/~hedgerow12/species_index.htm.

Exotics in the bog

I'm always amazed by the complexity and beauty of Bog Asphodel. It just seems too exotic to be in a local bog.

The Common Spotted Orchids are very large and numerous this year. I found three on the lawn of our local Health Centre.

One of the most common mosses at the fringe of the bog: Polytrichum commune.


And at the very edge of the bog, my favourite flower: Slender St. John's Wort.

A right mixture

Another new moth: Beautiful Carpet - Mesoleuca albicillata. This is 'widespread, but not numerous'. Wingspan about 20mm.


After a brilliant start to June, it has been very wet for the last two weeks. Today we got a bit of sunshine and I saw this tattered Speckled Wood basking in the sunlight:

Suddenly it was dive-bombed by another that chased it off and then occupied the same basking spot. This one is in better condition, but I think it's a little early for second generation specimens.

I think that the best colour on our hedgerows is provided by the flower-buds of Greater Birds-foot Trefoil:


The red more-or-less dissappears when the flowers are mature. This flowerhead was juxtaposed with what looks like Melanoleuca melaleuca:

To finish off: The Meadowsweet leaf-miner - Agromyza filipendulae. It has had to backtrack when it inadvertently bumped into its old track. (The mine starts in the purple centre portion, then goes clockwise until it gets trapped above the purple portion, when it resumes its clockwise track onto a new portion of leaf. Exit hole is bottom left.)