Ballyraine National School

Last week I gave a wildlife talk to pupils from Ballyraine NS in Letterkenny. After that, we went out for a walk around the school grounds to see what we could find and photograph. This page shows some of the interesting finds from that survey, and the text is intended for a school audience.

The first location we visited was the Butterfly Garden. This is packed full of flowers that attract butterflies and other insects.

Our first find was the hoverfly Helophilus pendulus. Hoverflies are important for pollinating flowers, trees and fruit.

The hoverfly Helophilus pendulus

Next we found a 2-spot Ladybird. These are much smaller than the more common 7-spot Ladybird, which we also saw.

2-spot Ladybird

Another part of the Butterfly garden contained Lupins, and these attracted workers of the White-tailed Bumblebee:

White-tailed Bumblebee

You can see the bright orange Lupin pollen in the pollen baskets on her legs. This pollen will be taken back to the nest to feed the growing grubs.

At first, I thought this was a little Sepsid Fly, but some research reveals that it's the much rarer Rivellia syngenesiae, which I haven't seen before (and there are no previous records in the National database!)

Rivellia syngenesiae

That little fly is only 3-4mm. long!

We then moved to the area of woodland at the edge of the School grounds, where we found a number of leaf-mining species. Leaf-miners live inside leaves, eating the middle layers of the leaf where they are protected from predators such as birds and other insects.

The mine of Phytomyza ranunculi on Creeping Buttercup

We also found the mine of Caloptilia syringella, which mines Lilac, Privet and Ash:

Mine of Caloptilia syringella on Lilac

Caloptilia syringella is the only leaf-miner on Ash, so it is fortunate that they also use other plants which will help them to survive if the Ash trees die in the next few years.

Most miners make their own mine, but some species make communal mines. This photograph shows two larvae of the leaf-mining fly Pegomya solennis on Dock:

Larvae of Pegomya solennis on Dock (heads to the left)

Some other species of flies also use leaves, but in a different way: Leaf galls are growths created by flies (and sometimes other insects) to make a shelter to live inside and feed on.

This is a Pontania gall on a Willow leaf:

Pontania leaf gall on a Willow leaf

And these galls are made by another species - Eriophyes sorbi - which is also new to me:

Eriophyes sorbi galls on Rowan

In the same location, we found this tiny fly:

Tiny Fly with iridescent wings

And also this Dung Fly, which was waiting to pounce on any passing insect:

Dung fly poised to leap out on any unsuspecting prey

Towards the end of the walk we found some Foxgloves:

Foxglove, a highly poisonous plant

And a single Herb Robert flower framed by the fencing:

Herb Robert

I have submitted records of all these species to the National Biodiversity Database which will help to build up a record of where our species are located.

The school website can be found here.

A little heat

When it rains, flying insects - quite understandably - keep a very low profile, and once the rain stops it takes a couple of days for them to emerge in any great numbers. After a couple of dry days, though, it seems that we have had a fresh start and everything is out again.

True Crane Flies are recognisable by their very long legs:

Crane fly Tipula fascipennis (female)

The larvae of Craneflies are the 'leatherjackets' that eat the roots of grasses, and can remain underground for over a year.

There are many species of Cranefly, and distributions are generally governed by availability of the favoured foodplant. The specimen above has a very distinctive white flash that extends to both edges of the wing, leading us to Tipula fascipennis. New to my species list.


Sexton Beetles are the great recyclers: they search out decomposing animal bodies and partially bury them by excavating beneath them. Their larvae then feed on the decomposing flesh, leaving the remnants of the buried corpse to return to the soil.

The Sexton Beetle Nicrophorus investigator

Speckled Wood butterflies are usually the first spring-emerging species that I see in any particular year, and the first generation lasts perhaps 6 weeks. Then, after a gap, their offspring emerge as a second generation:

Second generation Speckled Wood butterfly

If conditions are favourable, a third generation may appear around September.

I happened to notice today that Foxglove flowers are hairy inside:

Foxglove flowers

I can't really work out a reason for this (the just-visible orange reproductive parts are on the upper side of the tube). There would be no point in scraping pollen off onto the floor of the tube, so maybe it's just a doormat. (Late thought: the only insects that can successfully pollinate Foxgloves are those large enough to gather and transport pollen on their backs:  Bumblebees are an obvious candidate. So perhaps the hairs prevent smaller insects from stealing pollen without delivering any in return.)

Continuing my short series of grass images, this is False Oat-grass:

Flowers of False Oat-grass

Grasses do bear some serious examination: some of them are truly beautiful.

Dry nights usually mean a decent set of moths attracted to my lights at the front door. The newer energy-saving bulbs seem to attract more moths than the old tungsten filament bulbs, so it's a win-win set up.

This is the Clouded Border, which is one of the moths that looks most like a butterfly.

Clouded Border moth

The Flame Carpet has a bright orange-red central band on the wing which fades very quickly, especially if there has been any rain:

Flame Carpet moth

The Snout can be readily identified by the long mouthparts:

Snout moth

The Mottled Beauty can be separated from similar moths by the sickle-shaped leading part of the dark wing band:

Mottled Beauty

This next specimen caused me a bit of a problem - the markings look like scribbles - but it turns out to be a rather worn Double Dart, and is new to my Species list.

Double Dart moth

Regeneration

At the end of August I was dismayed to find that my favourite (and most fruitful) piece of hedgerow had been thrashed deep into the trunks and down to ground level: all vegetation had been removed, leaving nothing but a mulch of dead plants and sawdust. I realise that all hedges need to be maintained, but August is simply the wrong time to do it: moth and butterfly caterpillars are still feeding and many sawflies are only starting their season in autumn. That's one of the reasons that it's illegal (in Ireland) to cut hedges between April and September (which I think is still too early).

I went back today to have a look, and was pleased to note that many plants had made a valiant attempt to produce some new growth and some species had even produced a few flowers. The fern growth particularly interested me, as the next few shots will show.

This is a brand-new frond of Lady Fern (notice that the growth is pale green and that there is no feeding damage, indicating that the growth is indeed fresh):

Lady Fern

I had one of those "turn it over" moments (I suspected what I was going to find) and confirmed that the frond was completely sterile: there were no spore-producing parts:

Lady Fern, showing absence of sori

It appears that the fern had realised that there was no time left to produce ripe spores, and instead of wasting energy on making sori, had simply made fronds without them. Why bother? Well, ferns are perennials: they produce new growth from the same base each year. The overwintering rootstock needs as much stored energy as possible, so it makes sense to throw out some new green growth in a desperate attempt to catch the last rays of sunlight before winter sets in.

Broad-buckler Fern was exactly the same:

Broad Buckler frond

Sterile Broad-buckler underside 

Hard Fern and Male Fern had also made a little new growth:

Hard Fern sterile frond

Male Fern

(I didn't check the Hard Fern frond for spores because very few of them are normally fertile. The fertile fronds have narrower pinnae than the sterile ones, they are more brown than green, and are much more upright.)

Many other perennials had made some new growth. Here's the gallery:

Barren Strawberry

Bramble

Bush Vetch

Cow Parsley

Common Dog Violet

Foxglove

Meadowsweet

Nettle

Raspberry

Germander Speedwell (and gall)

Willow (too late for the sawflies)

Herb Robert....

And its flower

It's great to see that a number of plants have made some kind of recovery, but it's sad that too many insects lost their opportunity on this stretch of hedgerow in 2011. On a more positive note, it is clear that plants are the basic resource for much of our wildlife: plants dictate which insects are to be found in a particular location. Although insects are beneficial in terms of pollination, plants seem to be a stabilising influence since they are more resilient in the face of damage.