Curiouser and curiouser

Two of my recent posts have shown the results of my research on eggs and insects in Juncus rushes, and a great deal of additional background research has been taking place in the interval since those posts were made. In order to keep things neat and tidy, I'll be reproducing a couple of images from those posts in the report that follows.

Firstly, on 29th March, I showed these eggs:

Leafhopper eggs in Juncus

These have been identified as leafhopper eggs, but the species is still undetermined. Two species of leafhopper are known to associate with Juncus: Cicadella viridis and Conomelus anceps.

On 22nd April, I showed this dead specimen of Conomelus anceps:

Conomelus anceps killed by Entomophthora petchii on Juncus effusus

I was able to get a very accurate description of the Conomelus eggs from the UK expert on such matters and after some exhaustive searching, I managed to find a sample of Conomelus eggs from the Juncus:

Conomelus anceps eggs in Juncus

From the scale of the image, it can be seen that these eggs are very much smaller than the original leafhopper eggs from March. It's also worth pointing out that while the original eggs are in a line of 15 eggs, the Conomelus eggs are laid in smaller batches of 4 or 5.

Cicadella viridis is a much larger leafhopper than Conomelus anceps, but it turns that although C. viridis feeds on Juncus, it lays its eggs in the bark of thin-barked trees, so the identity of the original leafhopper eggs still remains a mystery.

In more recent pursuit of the owner of the original eggs, I have found other species and other eggs. This latest set of eggs is most bizarre:

Conomelus anceps eggs (A)

Arrow 'A' shows a couple of Conomelus anceps eggs, but the multicoloured eggs are, again, in a straight line (and are larger). The varied colours and shapes of these eggs suggest that they have been parasitised - presumably by minute parasitic wasps. So I think this image shows two sets of eggs: the Conomelus eggs on the left and a parasitised row of the original eggs which still remain unidentified.

Arrow 'B' points to a particular egg which caught my attention. It seems to show a nymph of a leafhopper of some kind, so that is my current area of research. I've blown up that part of the image here:

It looks to me like a leafhopper nymph looking directly towards the camera. Time (and a great deal of further research) will tell.

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.

Sun continues

While much of the UK has been under water for the past month, I'd hazard a guess that April was one of the driest on record in Co. Donegal. Although we've had a lot of sun, the wind has been easterly and that keeps things cooler.

Butterflies are out and about, though, and I've had Small Tortoiseshell, Speckled Wood, Green-veined White and now Orange Tip.

The male Orange Tip is unmistakeable, with those bright orange wing-tips:

Orange Tip butterfly - male

The males emerge a few days before the females in order to establish their territory, which they will defend against any moving white object, including pieces of paper. The females will be out next week and then I'll be looking for eggs on their host plant - Cardamine pratensis.

Green-veined White is usually the first of the spring-emerging butterflies on the patch. The males have fewer black markings than the females:

Male Green-veined White butterfly nectaring on Herb Robert

Male Green-veined White butterfly

Here's a shot of the female for comparison:

Female Green-veined White butterfly

Interestingly enough, the Orange Tip and Green-veined White share a common foodplant, but whereas the Orange Tip larvae eat the seedpods, the Green-veined White larvae eat the leaves.


Tachinid flies are parasitic on the caterpillars of larger moths, and are readily identified by their extremely bristly appearance:

The Tachinid fly Gymnocheta viridis

Judging by the number of Tachinids I encounter, it is clear that they are serious population controllers.

The Clouded-bordered Brindle moth is normally found from late May onwards. This is fully a month early, so the heat has brought the overwintering larvae on a bit more quickly than usual.

Clouded-bordered Brindle moth

The moth above is rather unusually marked: the central white 'kidney mark' is missing. Compare with this one from a couple of years ago. http://donegal-wildlife.blogspot.com/2010/06/busy-time.html


Breaking news: the recent mystery eggs that I showed in Juncus rush appear to belong to a leafhopper, rather than a sawfly. Full details in the next post.

Down by the riverside

Much of the river Deele is edged by tall trees which cast a deep shadow along much of its length. This creates a wonderful microclimate, ideal for a combination of woodland flowers and waterside insects. I like to visit at this time of year because it always serves up something of interest.

The area I visited is ripe with the aroma of Wild Garlic (Ramsons) at this time of year: the bank is covered with its delicate white flowers and strappy green leaves:

Ramsons (Wild Garlic) at the river Deele

The flower-heads emerge wrapped in a thin protective sheath which opens to reveal delicate, star-shaped flowers:

Ramsons flower-head with sheath

And a close-up reveals the delicate - almost translucent - nature of the petals:

Wild Garlic flower-head

Two other woodland flowers are also at their best at the moment:

Bluebell:

Bluebell

And Wood Anemone:

Wood Anemone

Having (at last!) got my hands on some spider references, I have been making an effort to fill in some of the gaps in my identifications.

Tetragnatha extensa is usually found near water on low-level vegetation. This one was on Hogweed on the riverbank:

Tetragnatha extensa on Hogweed leaf

Note that its rear right leg is holding the 'tension thread' which allows it to hide, whilst still being able to detect when some insect is struggling in its web. New to my Species List.

Tetragnatha extensa is very closely related to the huge brown spiders that are often found in garages or bathrooms.

Up on the bridge I found Ivy in fruit:

Ivy fruit

And a nice profile shot of the hoverfly Platycheirus albimanus which is everywhere at the moment:

Platycheirus albimanus (female)

I often think that its fascia is very like a human profile.

I'm never quite sure to be dismayed or excited when I see a Pug moth that I don't recognise: I realise that they are very difficult to identify (and that means I'm going to spend quite a while with the books to hand), but there's always the chance I'll find something new. This specimen is the Common Pug, which - strangely - I hadn't seen before:

Common Pug - Eupithecia vulgata vulgata

This moth is normally found from May onwards, so we're still a little early. It feeds on many broad-leaf plants as a larva. New to my Species List.


So that's four new species in a couple of days.

Three for the price of one

As part of the research that I'm currently carrying out on the eggs and larvae from Soft Rush (click here for a recap), I continue to examine specimens in quite a bit of detail. Yesterday I found what is clearly a minute leafhopper covered with a fine white web:

Frog Hopper on Juncus

My mind immediately leapt to an Entomophthora-type fungus that has killed the leafhopper. A bit of research shows that there is a single fungus - Entomophthora petchii - that kills various members of this huge family of bugs, but at this stage I had no idea which leafhopper I was looking at, or even which stage of the lifecycle it had reached when it was killed (nymph? adult?). A few features need examination: those dotted wing covers seem to be small and incompletely formed. This could suggest a nymph - since bugs all go through various nymph stages (instars) before reaching adulthood, or it might be one of the brachypterous species, where specimens can reach adulthood with either incomplete wings or fully winged. Size is also an issue: this hopper is only 4mm from nose to tail.

I took shots from various angles:

Frog Hopper on Juncus

And eventually found Conomelus anceps on the brilliant UK bugs website:  http://www.britishbugs.org.uk It turns out this is a Juncus feeder, and is quite common, but I've never seen it before, so that's one new species for me. I had also never previously identified the bug-killing fungus Entomophthora petchii, although I've certainly seen leafhoppers killed by a fungus. So that's two new species for my list.

I then decided to check previous records of Entomophthora petchii and found that there are only four existing records in the BI fungal database: all from Yorkshire (Helmsley, Pocklington, Leeds, Holmfirth) (and recorded under Zoophthora petchii), so I have moved the distribution map for this species quite some way to the west. First Irish record.

So one sample has led to three new records: two for my species list and one for Ireland:

Conomelus anceps killed by Entomophthora petchii on Juncus effusus

March and April have both been very variable in terms of weather, with very hot sunshine interspersed with long periods of rain or hail. The early heat has brought out various hoverflies much earlier than usual: this is Helophilus pendulus, which I regard as a summer species:

Helophilus pendulus

And this is a Syrphus:

Syrphus sp. hoverfly

The standard reference says "April onwards", for these two species, but I've certainly never seen them this early.

Post edited to tighten up naming (leafhopper).

Having mentioned in my last post that St. Marks Flies (Bibio sp.) are out, I got this shot of a male this morning:

St. Mark's Fly - Bibio marci (male)

We can tell it's a male by the large eyes, which meet in the middle. In Bibios, like many other flies, the male has much larger eyes than the female, and often emerges earlier in order to establish his territory. Bibo larvae are root-feeders on many plants, especially grasses. St Mark's day is 25th April, and the flies get their name from the fact that they usually emerge around that date. I've been seeing them for about a week, so the year is still rather early. Bibios are large flies that fly around in large groups - almost swarms - often with their rear legs hanging downwards.

When I was checking the images, I noticed that I had a decent shot of a couple of interesting features:

Bibio marci head (close-up)

Firstly, we can see how hairy the eyes are. Interestingly enough, the hairs don't interfere with the fly's vision: an insect's compound eyes are made up of tubes with sensors at the inner end and a lens at the outer end. These lenses are all arranged on a curved surface, which makes them all point in slightly different directions, which is good for all-round vision. The hairs grow parallel to the tubes, and as a result have minimal impact on the vision, since the line of sight is along the hairs, not across them. These large eyes are used for navigation and for identification of mates, prey and food.

Secondly, we can see the triangle of three ocelli (auxiliary eyes, arrowed) which react very quickly to changes in light intensity, and are used to detect quick motion in order to avoid predators.

A few years ago I took a series of 'bug's-eye' views of plants. Here's a view of a Dandelion seed clock from an unusual perspective:

Dandelion seedhead

 I rather like that shot.

A few of our hoverflies have grey abdominal bands rather than the usual yellow. This is a female Platycheirus albimanus feeding on Dandelion:

Platycheirus albimanus (female)

This is by far the most common species of hoverfly in my garden at the moment.

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.