In which I lose a screw...

I thought I would begin this latest update by sharing some of the smaller bugs I have found over the past few days.

Which reminds me, last week I crashed into the back of a car at the lights. This really short guy got out and was quite irate; he shouted "I'm not happy..."

I said, "Well which one are you then?"

Heigh ho, Heigh ho, it's off to blog we go...

This teeny spider is Araniella cucurbitina. Or is it? There is another very similar species called Araniella opisthorapha. The problem is that they are almost impossible to tell apart in the field; even worse, I didn't find this one in the field, it was in the garden! Let's settle for Araniella species shall we.

Then there was this amazingly Lilliputian, cuter than a Putto, weevil...

You can get an idea of just how small this was by looking at the thumbnail of....my thumbnail. S-M-A-L-L eh? So small was it, that I had to get the macro lens on it to even be sure it was a weevil. I doubt I will get to fully identify this one, although I am sure there will be somebody who can do so, I just doubt it will be me!

Back to spiders now 'cos I know how popular they are with you all 🤞🏻You can't beat a good spider is what I always say: well, you could with a length of willow I guess, but I don't advise it...

I mean, c'mon...even you cannot be frightened of this little bugger? That is the head of a screw behind it and be honest, it's dwarfing it. I found this Salticid (jumping spider) in the house, although I cannot for the life of me remember exactly where that screw is now; well, you've seen one screw, you've seen 'em all? 

I suspect it may be Evarcha species, but then, I suspected George Warleggan was a nice person. 

Enough of the minutia, although, I like to think they are important. Here's a short video I took on my phone in the garden. It features a solitary bee being seen off by a bumblebee.

The usual reminder that this video may not show in the email version of my blog, you will need to view the online version...

         

I know what you're thinking, these updates are so dour that time seems to slow right down? No, no, no, that was in slow-motion! Did you see the bumblebee waving its leg at the solitary bee to warn it off? 

Not the same one I hasten to add (I didn't really hasten, I took my time) but here is a different bumblebee, that was finding pollen aplenty on the Gaillardia flowers in the garden...

With all of this hot, sunny weather we are having just now in the UK, the photos from the garden, are full of bright colours and so I thought I'd mess around with the next one and try to give it a colder/wintry feel. I am not sure how well I did, I'll leave you to be the judge.  It was only a bit of fum anyway, so don't be too hard on me. A bit of fum? What the bejeezus is fum? Is it having a jolly time with a maternal relative perhaps? OK, OK...the picture!

Know what it is? Correct, a Woundwort Shieldbug: Eysarcoris venustissimus from the Pentatomidae family, for the pedants (sorry Maria). 😂

One more garden find? A Hairy Shieldbug this time; well, a nymph of same anyhow...

Dolycoris baccarum nymph

Having started this update with the tiny bugs, this now looks positively gargantuan by comparison right? Actually this is just a fairly late instar (although I am not sure what it was late for) and the adults are only around 10mm or so in length. This one seems to have antennae damage. 

By the way, the eagle-eyed amongst you will have seen that small, pinkish area just above my copyright 'thing', which I have included to try and prevent theft of my pictures (you and I both know it's a futile exercise, but I always knew exercise was futile so why not) and that pinkish splodge, is actually my thumb again. Yes, even though it was hotter than hell when Beelzebub is having a barbecue, it was also windy and I was attempting to hold the plant leaf steady. 

I think I might wind this blog up here, well why not, I have wound everyone else up with my metaphorical...

Before I go though, I will leave you with two things; the first is this thought, I have lots, and I mean lots, of strange dreams, but never, not once, have I been asleep in my dream, why is that I wonder? 

Secondly, what the heck the first thing has to do with my blog I have no idea, but anyway, secondly, these final pictures are of one of my very favourite plant-hoppers. It's one of the first I ever found, and I seem to come across the nymphs and adults quite regularly...

Issus coleoptratus

That's all - don't bang the door on your way out please...

Publish and be damned...

I need your input blog-readers. I had a nice email from somebody who used the  blogger 'contact JJ' option, that was very complimentary about my little blog, but mentioned at the same time about my writing style.

They were expressing a preference for the more factual updates, over the, well frankly, sillier ones. 

And so I would love to know what others think. I want to get the balance right because, although this is my blog, it is nothing without you loyal readers. Please do let me know any thoughts, good or bad, by using the same contact option, or just adding a comment at the bottom of this post.

                                                                        Thank-you,

                                                                                        'JJ'

Here we go then (at last) no frivolity included! Oh, before we get too far into this update, I need to apologise for the brevity and lack of tremendously exciting subject matter. I have already made a note to myself to try harder next time. The whole story is a little convoluted and uninteresting in itself but I did actually start this update almost two weeks ago and between then and now have had a bout of man-flu...

It's always a thrill to find my first jumping spider of the year and as usual, I spotted my very first on the wall of the house the other day...

Salticus scenicus-A Jumping Spider

There are of course several really similar jumping spiders here in the UK but I think my ID is sound for this one.

On the very same wall I also came across this nicely marked Nursery Web Spider...

Pisaura mirabilis - A Nursery Web Spider

To complete the spider trio; a teeny thing found in the garden on the same day...

This one might be a tad more difficult to identify to species level It could be either Araniella cucurbitina or Araniella opisthographa. Commonly known as the Cucumber Green Orb Spider I think.

Underneath a terracotta pot, I found this Moth Fly. Well I say Moth Fly, that's what I call them. I think possibly Psychodidae is the correct term. Also known variously as Owl Midges, Drain Flies, Filter Flies and Sewage Flies. It's a shame they have so many names 'cos they only live about five days and so by the time you have got to know them all, they will be gone.

On a recent walk in what was mainly coniferous woodland, I noticed in a couple of sunnier areas that the wood ants were appearing above ground in huge numbers...

Unfortunately I only had my phone to take pictures with but you can see there were lots of them. I also did a tiny video...

     

I think these are Formica rufa (The Southern wood or horse ant) and there is some very interesting info on these ants and their nests on the UK Wood Ants website.

A small extract: The wood ant’s nest is a marvel of insect construction and contains thousands of workers, over 250,000 individuals in Formica rufa. On the surface, the mound is made of a soil core surrounded in a “thatch” made of organic materials including pine needles, small twigs, moss, heather, dried grass and even pieces of lichen. The thatch is made in such a way that it intercepts the sun’s rays at right angles, acting like a solar panel to raise the temperature of the nest above that of the surroundings. This is important for the development of the brood inside the nest and to keep the workers warm enough to remain active, even on cool days. Workers will move the brood up and down the nest in order to provide them with the optimal temperatures for growth, sometimes bringing them onto the surface of the nest for an extra boost of warmth from the sun. The thatch is also an umbrella for the nest, each piece laid in a precise manner so that rain water trickles away from the nest, keeping it dry.

The heart of the nest is actually deep under ground and comprises of a series of tunnels and chambers. Inside a special underground chamber the queen will reside with her brood.

Wood ant mounds vary tremendously in size and shape, from tiny nests no bigger than a dinner plate, to humungous mounds over 1m tall.

Please check out the link for more: HERE

I think I may have disturbed this click beetle from its hibernation...

The last thing of note is this little springtail that I found. It was more what it was doing than the actual find that interested me. It's a fairly common collembola but I have never seen one on top of a slug like this...

It was also raising its abdomen in the air and 'waggling' it too...

I had no clue as to this behaviour; but I knew of somebody who might. Collembola expert and all round nice guy Frans Janssens. I fired of this email:

Hello Frans,

I wonder if, when you get time, you might be able to clue me in as to what is happening with the behaviour this collembola is exhibiting?

It was aboard this slug and even though I watched it for some time, showed no signs of wanting to climb off. It kept dipping its head as if drinking and at the same time sticking it's abdomen in the air and 'waggling'.

Any clues would be very much appreciated.

Many thanks

JJ

Here is his reply:

Dear John,

The head dipping is not drinking but eating: Neanura muscorum is a typical suspension feeder and feeds on the slime the slug is covered with. But I have no idea why it uplifts its abdomen as such... I have seen it in Hypogastruridae: 
http://www.collembola.org/images/cowen/Hypogastrura-sp-20090226-Rick-Cowen-USA-South-Dakota-l.jpg
But I have no clue what they are doing.

Kind regards,

Frans

Ah well! If the expert isn't sure, I don't feel so bad about not knowing myself. As always I do wish to thank Frans for taking time out to answer my little poser though.

And so that is all I can offer for this update, I can add just one more photograph before I go though. A selection of springtails from the garden...

That's it! As Wellington famously said to Joseph Stockdale ..."Publish and be damned".

Until the next time...