It's not often that I can celebrate finding new-to-me species these days: having spent more than a decade and a half bug-hunting locally, I guess I have discovered most of the more common species, and quite a few uncommon/rare ones too.
That all changed on one particular day recently. I received an invite to walk amongst some of the beautiful flower meadows of Marden (a few miles from home) and due to the benevolence of the person in question, had what turned out to be one of the best, and most exciting days, for a very long time.
I hope I can do it justice through sharing these photographs...
The first thing I spotted was this newly-emerged Harlequin ladybird: as you probably know, almost all ladybirds are yellow and spot-less when they first emerge, even the red ones. This was on willow and I have to say that I don't think I can recall seeing as many Harlequins in one small area before. Lots of pupae too, and so more adults on the way.
Next, came this plant bug...
Closterotomus norwegicus: Potato Capsid, to give it its full title. This common bug can be found in meadows and hedgerows right across Britain, and feeds on a wide range of plants.
From a very widespread and common bug, to what was without question, my find of the day...
This is 'Synanthedon formicaeformis', a Red-tipped Clearwing. These are fascinating moths that I know little about having never seen one in the wild until now. This particular species is a specialist of damp woodland and wetter habitats. It is also listed as a Nationally scarce B species and so I have already made preparations to record my find.
It is said that the clear wings make this moth almost impossible to spot in flight. I also read (and who knows if this is fact, because it was on the internet) that they actually emerge with fully-scaled wings, but lose them during their first flight.
That find made my day, and if I didn't discover anything else before leaving for home, I would still have been a happy boy! As it was though, there was more to come...
The Knot Grass caterpillar – Acronicta rumicis
The larvae of this species feed on various herbaceous plants. My next find may look like another caterpillar, but actually isn't...
This is an Iris Sawfly larva: this little critter was just where I might have expected to find it, on what I think might be yellow flag iris, beside a pond.
The adult sawflies lay their eggs in May on the leaves of irises (especially the yellow flag). The female lays the eggs by inserting her "saw" into the blade of the leaf near the thickened middle, not far from the leaf base.
The bottom photo of the two is of a tiny Picture-wing fly. There were hoards of these on the thistles and possibly knapweed? I say possibly because I have already forgotten if that's what the plants were!
My day, well, not exactly a day, three hours actually in Marden continued to be rewarding when I discovered another new-to-me species: this time something called a 'Tumbling-flower Beetle'...
I have found and photographed these little beetles before, but not this particular one. This is 'Variimorda villosa'. These are sometimes known as Pintail beetles, because of the elongated and pointed abdominal tip which aids them with tumbling movements to escape predators. This one was on what is a very important food-plant for so many invertebrates, namely, ragwort.
I don't think that these are mega-rare, but a contact of mine from Warwickshire tells me that there were only 2 records for this species up to 2015, in his part of the world.
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Something else that was feeding on ragwort, well, the female seemed to be feeding anyhow, the male had something else on his mind...
These large beetles are known as 'Rutpela maculata' (formerly Strangalia maculata; Leptura quinquemaculata etc.) Damn nomenclature is the bane of my life!
I counted at least 6 males and 4 females during my 3 hours of bliss. What I also found in great profusion were grasshoppers...
This next find had me pondering for a while: well, a good ponder never hurt anybody did it. Without resorting to checking it out on my phone, I had got as far as ladybird larva...
Using the habitat as a guide (it was discovered under pine trees), I considered that it could be a Pine ladybird larva. Then I remembered that the pale lateral stripe was significant, and that it must therefore be 'Chilocorus bipustulatus', the Heather ladybird.
I am in the process of getting this confirmed officially, but I think this could well be yet another first for me. I am hoping that this is the Rhopalid bug ' 'Stictopleurus punctatonervosus'. (If you would like to know just how to pronounce that by the way, the answer is, however you like!) The excellent British Bugs says about this species: Both historically rare or accidental, two Strictopleurus species have recently become well-established in the U.K.
The distribution was initially centered around the Thames gateway area of Kent and Essex, but this species is now found throughout much of south and central England, favouring dry grassland habitats.
What I can say with certainty, is that they are quite hard to spot. If you take a look at my original image below, you can see that if it were not for the light reflecting on the membrane (shown in inset photo) it would almost disappear.
I still have more from my day that I could share, but perhaps I will save it for another update and leave you with a couple of cricket images. The first is an Oak-bush cricket, and the second a Speckled-bush cricket...
And so my morning spent in the lush meadows of Marden will have a special place in my records. I was so excited to spot the Clearwing moth! It's one thing to trap a Clearwing, or even to use lures, but to see one in the wild, in its natural habitat, behaving naturally, was magical, just magical.
Thanks again to Marden Wildlife for making it a reality.
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