Wednesday, June 27, 2018

Bug porn at Brakey Bank...


When I unexpectedly had to buy a replacement mobile phone recently, this place came to mind. Purchasing the phone didn't exactly break the bank, but it was a bit of a trial (yes, I know the sign says trail - it's called word-play ☺)


And so...early one morning, just as the sun was rising,


 I fell out of my bed and into the car; drove for about 35 minutes and when I arrived at Brakey Bank, my phone (Grrr!) still only said...



That's a.m. by the way. Way too early in my day for bug porn: but that's what I was faced with soon after I arrived. I call it porn, but it may have been nothing of the kind; they may have been in a loving, long-term Coleoptera relationship for all I know...

Bonking beetles

And then, no sooner had I left these two, wet as an otter's pocket, and still 'apud tantra', than I came across (no pun intended) these two wired up weevils...I tell you, Brakey Bank is a den of iniquity early mornings...


I suspect those are Figwort weevils. They look very much like it to me, and after all, that is Figwort they are perched on; not that it is conclusive proof because as I am always saying, bugs can't read (that we know of) and so they don't understand the reason why they are sometimes named after a particular plant.

Take this mullein moth larva for instance...


Was it Mullein that I found this on? Nope..t'was...Figwort again. UK Moths has this species of caterpillar feeding on Figwort and Buddleia. Still, I did notice that the internet signal was almost non existent at Brakey Bank and so I doubt this larva has even seen their terrific website. 

At the far side of the meadow, there is a wooden seat. I sat down for a while, and I guess my eyes must have relaxed for a few seconds, possibly from lack of sleep! I found myself staring into the middle distance almost cross-eyed, I must have looked like somebody trying to focus on one of those magic eye pictures. Anyhow, I noticed a tiny circle on a grass stem that looked like a chocolate button. 

Should I investigate? Yes, I should...

I stood up, took just one pace towards the chocolate button, and...fell over my camera bag! Thankfully, at that time of day, there was nobody else around to witness my blasphemous outburst. I know, because I checked; it's the first thing you do when you fall over right? Check to see if anybody saw you. And what was this chocolate button in reality? 



Not sure? Maybe a closer look will help...


It's actually an early instar nymph of the Scutelleridae family: Eurygaster testudinaria, the Tortoise Bug. Although at this stage they are no larger than a gnat's nipple, the adults are sizable shieldbugs.


As I sit here writing (Tuesday 26th June), the clock on the wall says 11:33 pm and so I think I will leave you to contemplate this next picture whilst I get some much needed shut-eye. No rush: I shan't return until morning. By which time you will be confident that you know what creature features in this...magic eye picture, won't you? A clue? OK, there is more than one critter in the image. Good luck, see you in the morning...

Not sure if this'll work if you are viewing via your phone?

Bugger! A full moon: will I be able to sleep I wonder. Oh! You don't care huh? 

Anyhow, I 'Googled' it and it isn't actually a full moon until Thursday, so I reckon I will be alright. Of course it could be Thursday by the time you read this, I'm not sure if that will be more confusing for you, or for me. 


Yes, a new day has dawned and it's already 65 deg in the garden at 8.50 am. I did sleep well, despite what did look like a full moon, I think you will agree... 



Back to my adventure at Brakey Bank then. BTW, if you are wondering exactly where this place is, here's a little map...



Yes, it's part of those green areas on the map, which are Tudely Woods. Anyway, let's crack on; my next find was a first for me. I have never seen these particular dragonflies locally...

Cordulegaster boltonii  A Golden-ringed Dragonfly


This is the only member of the Cordulegaster family in the country, and one of our largest dragonflies; I think the female (this is a female) may be the longest.  BDS (The British Dragonfly Society) describes the habitat thus 'Breeds in acidic rivers and streams of all sizes. May be found away from its breeding habitat over heathland.' Probably why I have never seen them at home then, no acidic rivers, streams, or heathland. 

After finding so many parasitised bug eggs this year, it was nice to see these looking okay (at this stage)...


And these must have been successful I guess...


Of course empty eggs doesn't mean that bugs emerged rather than parasitic wasps, but I think the previous ones I have observed where it has been wasps, haven't had the little hinged lids open like this.

I also discovered this lovely pair........of Puss moth eggs...








This poor little cricket had met its end at the hands of a female Misumena vatia crab spider. It was only a young spider and similar in size to its prey, but I guess the cricket had no defense? I did find an even smaller spiderling in the garden at home; same species too...



Not sure of actual size, but at a guess I would say about 3-4mm.

Another top spot in my garden was this recently moulted Woundwort shieldbug nymph...


I struggle with recalling the scientific names for these bugs and it doesn't help when they seem to be constantly changing. For instance, these used to be known as 'Eysarcoris fabricii'. But then the people who have the power to rename bugs decided that something more snappy was required I guess, and came up with 'Eysarcoris venustissimus' 



And finally, don't try (as I did) to take a series of shots with the intention of making an image stack, when your subject is constantly moving its antennae...





Wednesday, June 20, 2018

Football v Nature...


Here in England, there is no escape from 'the beautiful game' (yeah, right) that is the FIFA World Cup. Apparently, erstwhile England manager Bill Shankly, once said that football is more important than life and death. If however you are one of the minority who even dares to admit that football leaves you cold, then may I suggest that you come on in to my latest blog update right now! 

It's lovely in here, honest it is: it even smells great, like wild English honeysuckle after summer rain. Despite what old shaky-Shankly thinks, there is more to life than kicking a pig's bladder around a park!  And as Van Gogh once said "If you truly love nature, you will find beauty everywhere". C'mon, do like Robbie Williams did at the opening ceremony, stick a middle finger up and...."Let me entertain you"...♫♫♫


(Click on any photo for a larger view)
Scathophaga stercoraria

What better to begin this update than this beautiful..........DUNG Fly! 

Yes, as its common name suggests, this fly is not only found on the feces of large mammals, but it also breeds there. If you find this abhorrent, then consider the following: the abundance of these flies has been directly influenced by intensive farming by us humans: and so now they are  integral in the animal kingdom, due to their role in the natural decomposition of dung in fields.

Shall we progress to something that is truly beguiling...


OK, I know it's only a fly, but come on, even flies look good in the right light huh? 

These few photographs are all from an early morning trip that I took to Marden Meadows recently. Marden Meadows is a nature reserve east of Marden here in Kent, and is managed by the Kent Wildlife Trust. It is also a site of special scientific interest. 

A Hoverfly (Estralis species)
The hoverfly pictured above, on one of the many large, white daisies that litter the meadows right now, is trying to emulate a honey bee. They are quite good mimics, but unlike the bees,  have only one pair of wings, and no sting. They can be tricky to tell apart, but I think this one is E.tenax.  

Whereas these next photos are of a honey bee, and a very wet one at that!





I also came across this tiny creature: I think this is a leaf beetle larva...




You can possibly tell from these photographs that it was quite a dewy morning. It must be a  fairly vulnerable time for the bugs as they cannot fly until all that water has dispersed, or has been evaporated by the sun,  from their wings. 



Way back in July of 2014 I blogged about a species of weevil called Hypera rumicis, I described the pupal cases of these weevils as being like 'wild spun sugar' (that blog entry is HERE by the way, if you would like to come back and view it after reading this update). Well, I managed to photograph some more of these structures, at Marden Meadows this time. As with everything else I found, they were covered in dew drops...





You can clearly see the larva inside this case

I walked across an empty land
I knew the pathway like the back of my hand
I felt the earth beneath my feet
I looked up and saw this ladybird so sweet...


I wonder if male ladybirds mind being called ladies?




And if all of these pictures haven't been enough to hold your interest...well, you won't be reading this I guess! Assuming that you are though, my final offering from my early morning photo shoot is this voyeur image of two bonking beetles. 






This next photo is one that I took closer to home a few days ago...

Pentatoma rufipes
This is a final instar (the last stage before becoming an adult bug) of the Red-legged Shieldbug. They are quite large bugs when adult; you can see an adult HERE in a post from 2011 that I wrote about bugs moulting.


Yes, time to blow the whistle on this particular update before we get into injury time. I shall leave you with a final thought on 'the beautiful game' (that's football, in case you were confused) from a guy called Graham, who called the radio show '5 Live Breakfast, to share these pearls of wisdom..."The game is run by spivs, chancers and gangsters, it's played by morons and it's watched by cretins". Phew! So pleased my name is not Graham...heresy! 


How about a triptych ending then? (couldn't be bothered keeping the football analogy going by calling it a hat-trick) Applying the term loosely of course; here are three photographs I took of a fabulous Puss moth larva...








If you are thinking that it is quite an odd looking caterpillar, just take a look at how it looks immediately prior to pupating...




That'll be all for now chums. Take care until we meet back here for update number 221 in which I will attempt to alienate all cricket lovers, by suggesting that it is the most boring sport...



My good 'Flickr friend' Jason, has some lovely photos of the green veined orchids at Marden Meadows that you might like to check out HERE

Friday, June 08, 2018

A stormy exit...

Time for a little update on the blue tits that have been using a nest-box in the garden. When we left them in my last update, they were all doing well and seemed close to being about ready to leave the nest.

As it happened, they were very close to leaving. In fact it was just the next day, I was watching the box and saw signs of the first one appearing at the entrance hole...



 It wasn't long before the temptation to leave became too strong, and out it came into the big, bad world: well, my garden at least...




 Followed quite soon after by most of the others...


Finally, tempted by the parents, who sat outside the nest calling and offering food should the youngsters emerge to get it, the last of the brood exited the nest box...


They hung around the garden for a while and I managed some phone pictures...





And so I can report that this year, the story had a happy ending: well, not exactly! You see they could not have picked a worse weather day to fledge. I guess they must have been out of the box for no more than a couple of hours, when the heavens opened and we had a downpour, followed by thunderstorms through the night. I did spot some of them in a neighbour's garden the next day and so I am hoping that they got through okay.

At least my efforts to protect them from the cats worked out and they had the best possible chance of survival. I shall clean the box and prepare it for next year.

Here's a short video to end this update: I apologise for the horrible shaking, I was trying to hand-hold my 400mm lens at full zoom...