More synchronisation

Grasses can be incredibly difficult to identify, but fortunately - once the initial identification has taken place - many can be readily identified in the field. This is Meadow Foxtail - Alopecurus pratensis:

Meadow Foxtail grass

And this is Sweet Vernal Grass - Anthoxanthum odoratum, which gets its name from its sweet smell when dry, and also from the fact that it is one of the earliest grasses to flower:

Sweet Vernal grass

Of course, as soon as those fresh new leaves are available, the parasites move in. This is the rust Puccinia graminis on Meadow Foxtail:

Puccinia graminis on Meadow Foxtail grass

Now that the sun is out again, micromoths are making an appearance. This is Ancylis badiana, about 10mm long:

The micromoth Ancylis badiana

The larvae of Ancylis badiana feed on various members of the pea family, including clovers and vetches. The larvae of the following species of micromoth, however, are unknown.

Micropterix calthella is always to be found in or near Meadow Buttercup. Adults are 4mm long.

The micromoth Micropterix calthella on Meadow Buttercup

I watched this specimen as it wandered over the flower and then posed in profile. Note the wonderful yellow tuft of hair, like a wig:

Micropterix calthella close-up

Given the adult moth's predilection for Meadow Buttercup, I'd guess the larvae live on the roots of it.

As I was walking along, I felt a tickle on my arm, and I immediately thought "It's too early for midges". I rattled off a couple of shots of the microscopic beast and was delighted to find this minute (2mm) Chalcid wasp struggling through the hairs on my arm. Chalcids are tiny members of the Ichneumonid family, parasitising micromoths and other small insects. 

Chalcid wasp

Note the very sparse wing venation, which is a feature of Chalcids, and also the dark triangular pterostigma, which is a feature of ichneumonids in general.

Staying with parasitisation, I found this 'mummified' aphid on Cow Parsley. Aphids which are inflated and glossy like this have usually been parasitised by a member of the Aphidius family of Braconid wasps, which are yet another branch of the ichneumonid family:

Aphid parasitised by Aphidius sp. wasp

Ferns are all unrolling, now. This is Scaly Male fern - Dryopteris affinis:

Scaly Male fern unfurling

Ferns are a major component of the hedgerow, providing food, shelter, display and basking opportunities for many insect species.

Early year?

I'm hearing many reports of species being 'early' this year. Species have been appearing at earlier and earlier dates over the past few years; so much so that it has almost become the accepted norm and people don't even mention it any more. But this year I'm again noticing that more people are making special mention of early specimens of moths, butterflies and other insects, so perhaps things are particularly early this year.

The following shot certainly illustrates that trend as far as I'm concerned, but before I discuss it, what type of insect do you think the following picture shows? (bumblebee, wasp, fly, other?):

Male Eristalis intricarius

Well, to put you out of your misery, it's a hoverfly: a male Eristalis intricarius. These are good bumblebee mimics, and at first glance, when they're stationary, they are easily mistaken for Bombus lucorum.

A few identification pointers might help. Firstly, it has only two wings; flies have two wings, bees have four. Secondly, the head is almost completely made up of eyes. In a bee, the eyes are long and narrow, with visible parts of the 'face' on both sides of the eyes. (Incidentally, the fact that the eyes meet in the middle is what makes it so clearly a male). Thirdly, what appears to be an orange stripe between the wings is actually the shiny scutellum, and isn't really a stripe at all. Finally, if you look carefully at the wing veins, you can clearly see the famous 'Eristalis bulge', which is unique to the Eristalis group of hoverflies:

Eristalis 'bulge'

The shot also illustrates another of the wing features which identify hoverflies: the 'False margin':

The trailing edge of the wing is not constrained by a vein: it is free to flex as the wing moves. I rather suspect this is one of the main reasons why a hoverfly can hover so accurately.

In terms of earliness, I have only once seen Eristalis intricarius before June: I have come to regard it as a summer species. The references say from March, but that would probably be a date from much further south.

The next shot shows a couple of tiny flies (on Dandelion for scale). On the left is a Sepsid fly: these run around on leaves and flowers with their wings flapping up and down in a semaphore fashion. On the right is one of our smallest hoverflies, Neoascia podagrica:

Sepsid (L) and Neoascia podagrica (R)

Here's a close-up of the (8mm. long, female) hoverfly:

This is again much earlier than I would normally expect to see it.

In terms of grasses, the first to flower around here is usually Sweet Vernal Grass, but that hasn't appeared yet.  Instead, I found Meadow Foxtail:

Meadow Foxtail

I have included a little insert (top left) showing the very short 'ligule' which can be used to assist with identification.

I'm not sure if it's raining again or still raining.

Bombus pratorum is a bumblebee that I only started seeing locally about 3 years ago. It is thought to be becoming increasingly urbanised as farming practices push it out of agricultural land. It was certainly very numerous in central Glasgow when I visited last year.



Empid flies, or dance flies, have a wonderful long proboscis that they use to suck fluids out of the bodies of other insects.


Raspberry flowers have just opened, and the solitary B. pratorum was methodically working its way along the hedgerow, visiting every flower. If it accidentally revisited a flower it had already been to, the mistake was recognised in less than a second.


The Meadow Foxtail I showed last week has flowered.

Grasses and Horsetails

Grasses can be very tricky to identify, but I'm working on them. This is Meadow Foxtail - Alopecurus pratensis.


And this is Sweet Vernal Grass - Anthoxanthum odoratus. More to follow.


There is a small patch of the hedgerow where I have four different Horsetails within about 15m of each other. I already showed the Equisetum arvense. This is Marsh Horsetail - Equisetum palustre:


Note: small number of smooth ridges round the stem and white-edged teeth.


This is Water Horsetail - Equisetum pluviatile:


Note: more numerous ridges with black teeth.


The fourth version is the hybrid between Field Horsetail and Water Horsetail - Equisetum x. litorale. If I can get some illustrative shots of this I'll put them up.