The Curmudgeonly Old Bugger is born...

Before we get into this, I want to apologise dear reader if the text is messy regards some being centred, some ranged etc. Blogger is playing silly buggers again and I have no control!

I am going to be honest and upfront about the fact that this update is going to be something different. You may, or may not like the change, but it's only something I plan to include occasionally and as Coco Chanel once said: “In order to be irreplaceable one must always be different.” - I "should Coco, Coco!" 

The seed for this was planted in a little comment from an old friend on social media recently, who, when I myself commented that I didn't care for something, wrote this..."Yes, but you are just a curmudgeonly old bugger!"

I had to agree, there are things about everyday life that 'get my goat'. So why not create another blog where I could vent all these issues? I soon had second thoughts about that one though - who wants to read a blog where the author just rants! 

As a compromise, I decided I would trial something I am calling a blog within a blog. Here then is update number one of...

 David Attenborough!

Holy crap JJ! You are never going to begin by ripping into a national treasure, surely? Not exactly no. I wouldn't dare. And besides, Sir David has single-handedly done more to make us aware of the natural world and its frailties than any other human I can think of. BUT, take a look at this very short video if you will...

Cute kids asking Sir David questions on BBC Breakfast recently. That's cool. But David...it's what you say in reply that irks me somewhat. Perhaps your memory is failing in your dotage? Or were you just trying to protect youngsters from the facts? You have immense knowledge; you know about spiders. You have one named after you in Australia. You must therefore know that it simply isn't true that "there are no spiders in the UK that will bite you". 

Okay, we can discuss just how many there are, but isn't it incontrovertible that there are some? Let's take a look at some of the evidence shall we. You were appearing on the BBC: here is a piece on spiders from that very organisation...

The tabloid press would have us believe that there are many more biting spiders in the UK...

I think we can put our trust in The Natural History Museum though...

Then there is the much-respected British Arachnological Society view...

And so Sir David, can we agree that whether its three, twelve, or fifteen, there are SOME that can bite! 

Apologies to anyone outside of the UK who probably won't have a clue as to what that normal service picci is all about. See HERE for answer: but not now eh? 

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It can be tricky to know what to blog about at times. Sometimes however, a subject literally drops down from the sky. The following photo might help explain...

That white area is my notepaper where I had been writing down ideas for this update, when suddenly this tiny critter dropped out of the air (ok, so sky was stretching it a bit) and although it was minute, I didn't immediately recognise that a*se! I tried to get a better picture with my kit lens, but couldn't get close enough of course...

Time to get out the macro kit and snap a few more images...

It looks a little similar to this don't you think?

Not really JJ, no. That's a micro-moth isn't it?

Well yes, it is actually, and my little visitor was not a moth.

Trichadenotecnum sexpunctatum. If nothing else it'd use up all of your scrabble letters. I managed a 16-letter word: 'Counterstatement', can you do any better?  Trichadenotecnum sexpunctatum is what I think this could be. I say think because there are several similar ones and I am no expert on Barkflies. I think I am on solid ground by naming it as a Barkfly; but couldn't say for definite which one. Sure is a pretty little beggar compared to most I have seen though. Oh, there was that cool little nymph I found a few years back...

Meanwhile, this cool little juvenile jumping spider appeared in the house recently...

It couldn't have been much more than 3mm at a guess and so not sure of species; Fencepost Jumping Spider perhaps.

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Erm, I want to take a moment here to thank the anonymous person who left such a lovely comment on my last blog update...

Not only was it a joy to receive and read, but unbeknown to the poster of this comment was the fact that it was  the one thousandth comment on my blog!

Just before I get my coat, I teased you with the micro-moth, saying it looked similar to the Psocid (Barkfly) which of course was kinda tenuous really. However, I do have another choice that I would like to substitute, and is more deserving of being labelled as a lookie-likie...

Leaving aside the fact that this particular one is greenish in colour; there are definite similarities. Both have  kind of bug-eyes, both have long antennae and both fold their wings over their backs in a kind of tent fashion.

This is not a Psocid though: rather a Psyllid. Psyllids are known as Jumping Plant-lice. By the way, you may be interested to know that there are two distinct groups of Psocids: species that occur outdoors are known as Barkflies, and those that are only recorded indoors are Booklice.

And so now it really is time to put this update to bed. One final thought, I wonder how this year has been for Damselflies? Locally I have to say, it has been very poor. Sightings are way down. I think these two mating White-legged Damselflies might well be the only ones I photographed this year...

Psocid to me baby!

Here we go again then. Time for another update. The whole point of these updates, well the whole point of my blog actually, is to try to imbue you with some of the enthusiasm that I have for the natural world and bugs in particular.

Since I first started blogging, almost a decade ago now, it has become increasingly 'sexy' to talk about the environment and the role  insects play within our world. Perhaps at long last the people wielding the power will do the right thing. I actually heard a farmer saying on TV the other day that they had "ignored nature until now, but could do so no longer". There's progress!

Meantime, I shall continue to do my little bit in any way I can...

In my last update I talked about camouflage. Here's another tiny bug that uses this in what seems like  quite an extreme manner. For starters, this Psocid nymph in my photo is only 2mm long max. Does something so small even require camouflage? 

I guess the answer must be yes, or why bother. Here's another photo that shows you what I actually saw before closing in for a macro shot...

Not exactly standing out like a porcupine at a nudist colony is it! And yet it does seem that bugs of this species all do it. I think it might just be confined to the nymphs though.

I'm not certain what it is that they are covering themselves with: an entomologist friend did tell me what he thinks it is, but I think that's just crap!

A Barkfly nymph - possibly Cerobasis guestfalia?

Curious creatures huh? The common name for Psocids is Barkflies, or Book-lice. According to the National Barkfly Recording Scheme: The order Psocoptera is one of the least recorded insect groups. This lack of recording is not because the species are rarely encountered – on the contrary; almost every tree in Britain is likely to be home to some of these creatures and psocids are far more abundant than some insect orders.

In fact, if you are interested in discovering a species new to science, I would say these would be your best bet and the chances quite high.

More strange looking creatures: this time a hoverfly larva. This is what a hoverfly looks like before it becomes the winged adult we all see flying around, all the time thinking it's a wasp. I think this one is probably the Marmalade hoverfly  Episyrphus balleatus. In case you have been wondering; the feeding end is on the right of this photo. Those 'ears' at the other end are neither ears or antennae; they are in fact, put simply, breathing tubes.

My bug finds so far this year have been patchy. One species however that I have seen huge numbers of already is the Hairy Shieldbug (taxonomists please stop renaming bugs, I can't keep up!)

Never have I seen so many gathered together as I have this year. On one local walk recently, I kept seeing these large, green, spiky plants; not sure exactly what they were, maybe wild lettuce or something similar. Anyhow, wherever they occurred, right at the base they formed  little reservoirs where water collected. In each of the plants I looked at there were drowned Hairy Shieldbugs...

Meanwhile, this rather strange looking looper caterpillar was found on willow... 

I was really pleased to find this next plant bug. Freshly moulted too. It's a number of years now since I last saw one.  This is Miris striatus, or as some folk like to call it: The Fine-streaked Bugkin. It's a predatory bug that feeds on aphids and the eggs and larvae of moths etc. Described as 'local' here in the south of the UK.

Miris striatus (moult at bottom)

I must remember when identifying this bug though, there is a really similar one called 'Calocoris quadripuntatus' that has similar patterning, but is just a tad smaller. If that isn't confusing enough, it seems that there is also yet another similar species: 'Rhabdomiris striatellus', however, after further research, it appears that C. quadripuntatus and R. striatellus are one and the same.

Yep! Two names that identify one bug! 

Pictured above is my first sighting of an adult Sawfly. I have seen a number of larvae, but this is the very first adult for 2019. Adult sawflies only live for a couple of weeks: they get their name from the saw-like ovipositor, which the female of the species uses to cut into the surface of leaves, where she then deposits her eggs.

Pentatoma rufipes; A Red-legged Shieldbug

Another first for this year I think. This is probably a mid-instar of the species. When fully grown, the adults have a kind of 80s shoulder pad thing going on. It'll probably be at least another month or so before I spot any mature bugs. 

Adult Pentatoma rufipes from 2016

This...

A bug-eyed caterpillar. At least that's how it appears right? But those black eye-like blobs are not eyes at all. No, the eyes are the small circle of dots at the base of the 'blobs'.