The beetles are in the house...

As I write (type) we are almost two months into the so called lockdown. The natural world however continues at pace, and ironically, my local woods are busier than I can ever remember. Just for a moment though; come back in time with me.

Yes, let's revisit the 131st day of the year. The 19th Sunday of 2020. The day that 'Tutti-Frutti' King, Little Richard left this earth: US Mother's Day. Got it yet?

The day I saw this on the hall wall...

A speck of dust; a dirty mark? I almost wiped it off the wall, but years of bug hunting has trained my brain to check out even the smallest of objects "Just in case". I went and fetched the macro kit instead. The result? Well lookie here:

I haven't found an ID for this little guy (or guy-ess) yet, but with those powerful back legs, it might be a flea beetle? Flea beetles are in no way related to fleas by the way, it's all about those legs which allow them to jump like fleas.

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Just before I move on, if anyone has been reading my contributions to The Wealden (See link to the page in the blue and white tabs at the top of this post) and wondering why they stop in March? It's because publishing ceased in March because of Covid 19. I am hoping for a resumption fairly soon though.

I know what I think this next photo depicts, but what do you think it could be?

It was very small: I would guess about 3mm max. I found it on low growing vegetation in mixed woodland if that helps?

I'll include my guess in the next update if nobody comes up with the correct answer here, or if you feel like this...

When I found this tiny caterpillar on the 27th of April (that was the 118th day of the year by the way, and the 39th day of spring), I thought I knew what it was, but decided to raise it at home. It's a great way of gaining knowledge, as I have said before and will greatly help me with future identification...

By the 30th it looked like this...

Not too much change by Star Wars Day (May 4th)...

But by the 7th of May, it had moulted and revealed itself to be the species I had originally thought it was...

Not fully grown yet but already recognisable. It would take one more moult before the cycle was complete...

And there you have it: a beautiful Vapourer moth larva (Orgyia antiqua) or 'Rusty Tussock' as they are sometimes known. 

Once it reached this stage, I took it back to the exact spot I had found it, and released it to continue eating until it is ready to pupate.

What did I learn from this? I learned that those 'brushes' don't appear until they have moulted a couple of times. Even then, if you look at the penultimate photo above, you can see that two are black and two are white.

Oh! One other thing before I move on; if you compare the first caterpillar photo with the last, you can see how difficult it can be to reliably identify some species. 

A Bristly Millipede - Polyxenus lagurus

I have seen only a couple, and obviously not enough yet to get a decent photo!

It's not uncommon actually, but at only 2-3mm often overlooked (especially by me). How about another insect with strange looking legs? This fly looks like it is using bird feathers for legs...

I think it's an Empid fly but not seen one with legs like this before.

Come to think of it, I have never seen a Picture-wing fly that looks quite like this one either...

It's a bit like the Old Curiosity Shop here isn't it. What the Dickens is next I wonder?

This is?

Clues as to what this might be: Their aerial appearance has earned them common names like Fairy flies, Fluff bugs, and Angel bugs...

A Woolly Alder Aphid

The “wool” on a woolly aphid is wax, produced by abdominal glands in order to make the aphid look less like a Happy Meal to its predators. The wax streamers shed water, making the aphid look like mould, and are distasteful and distracting.

What better to end on than a sap-sucking insect!