An international flavour to this update...

It's around three weeks since I last updated the blog and so what has been happening during that time?

Well the main event for me was the sudden appearance of a large migrant bug in my bathroom window. It's one that I have found once before, but that was out in the field and a few miles from home and so this was a bit of a surprise, They must be spreading faster and further than I'd appreciated...

A Western Conifer Seed Bug (Leptoglossus occidentalis)

A Western Conifer Seed Bug (Leptoglossus occidentalis)

This is a large squash bug that is similar to our own Dock Bug but more elongate in shape and around 20mm rather than the 15mm of Coreus marginatus. Here's a piece about the distribution of this interloper, with due credit to Britishbugs.org.uk/ : 

Geographical Distribution
Leptoglossus occidentalis was originally restricted to western parts of the United
States, Canada and Mexico, but in recent decades it has spread eastward and can
now be found over almost the whole of North America. It was accidentally
introduced into Europe in 1999, to northern Italy, and has since spread rapidly, being
recorded from Switzerland in 2002, Spain and Slovenia in 2003, Croatia and
Hungary in 2004, Austria in 2005, Germany, France, Serbia and the Czech Republic
in 2006, Belgium, Britain and Slovakia in 2007, and from Montenegro and Poland in
2008. In the UK, the majority of records have been of adults observed at light traps
along the south coast of England, clearly indicating a large migration across the

English Channel.

Here's a photo showing the very distinctive expansion of the hind tibiae...

I think this one must have been attracted to the light and then came in through an open window. They are known to enter buildings in search of a hibernation spot. Which brings me to this little video; it doesn't show any interesting behaviour, but it was taken after I released it into the garden. It was quite a windy day by the way...

Three days have elapsed since I placed the bug on this plant, I have kept an eagle eye on it each day and it is still in exactly the same spot; well, on the same plant anyhow. It has just concealed itself underneath one of the leaves and that has me wondering if the garden was the best choice to release it, when maybe I ought to have kept it inside somewhere for the winter?

I read recently of a couple of people who have kept these in a dry but cool place and that they can live on just water and reserves through the winter months- maybe I'll consider that, if it remains in place much longer?

A Canadian friend recently sent me a photograph of what she suspected was 'spider related' and asked if I could confirm. She lives in Burlington-Ontario Canada...

The Canadian mystery object

 I was able to tell her that it does indeed look like a spider egg sac and possibly an Orb Weaver (maybe the Cross Orb Weaver-Aranueus diadematus.) Coincidentally, I found a very similar one a couple of days ago under a log...

Here's a little added information I cribbed from the internet, as I know Cathy will be looking forward to having up to 800 spiderlings come next spring...

Male spiders reach adulthood ahead of females and may pair up with immature females, waiting for them to become sexually mature. Females spin egg sacs in late summer or autumn that are about 20mm in diameter and comprised of golden silk. They are constructed (seemingly “plastered”) in a protected place somewhat away from the web, sometimes attached to the eaves of buildings or inside rolled-up leaves or other foliage. Female dies shortly after laying her eggs. Each egg sac can contain anywhere from 100 to 800 yellowish eggs. Typically, only one egg sac is made per female. Spiderlings emerge from the sac the following spring and remain clumped together for a day or two, after which they disperse.

One of my own reference photos of the 'cute' spiderlings

Whilst we are visiting the Northern Hemisphere, I don't think by the way there's any foundation to the story I read about Canada being a migratory country that 'we pick up and move to wherever the weather is nicest' but anyhow, I have a good friend who lives in California, who this year was lucky enough to be able to visit the monarch butterfly migration in Natural Bridges, Santa Cruz.

They have very kindly given me permission to share a few photographs on my blog, for which I am very grateful...

Monarch butterflies return to the Californian coast in September/October each year in search of the milder temperatures. Most will have journeyed some 1,500 miles from places like Washington, Arizona and New Mexico and will remain through 'til March...

The monarch migration from their summer breeding ground takes four generations, meaning that the ones arriving this year are the great-great grandchildren of the ones from last year.

It has been known for this beautiful butterfly to turn up in the UK but with total sightings at less than 500 since the 1800s I won't be holding my breath to see one anytime soon; I just wish I'd been there myself to witness what must have been a spectacular event.

Lastly I wanted to include a shot of the fantastic larvae, oh and thank 'TT' for allowing me to include these pictures...

Something that I came across completely by accident, when I was photographing other things, was this robin doing what I can only describe as grunting. It's only a very short clip and a bit shaky too...I will explain after you watch the video...

In all honesty, the reason this isn't great is that I have to admit, I was out with the macro rig when I saw this robin and so, keeping the macro and flash in one hand, I got the trusty point and shoot in the other, zoomed in and just shot what I thought was a photo, without checking the settings. It transpired that the camera was set on video mode...Ooops!

I haven't seen a robin do this before but I suppose it must be territorial? Either that or it's got a cough...

The unseasonably mild weather has continued here in Kent and that has allowed the garden wildlife to remain active to a point. I spotted this damsel bug on the butterfly bush (Buddleia) when I was checking for aphids, of which there are huge numbers right now...

A phone grab of the aphids

On the same plant I also found this threesome...

2 x Moth larvae and a Green Tortoise Beetle

And under a fallen leaf I found this soldier beetle larva. The larva are soil dwelling and are predatory...

Cantharis larva

Cantharis larva

This last image will probably give you a better idea of the size of this larva...

And although I can't be certain exactly which species this is, the adult beetle will look something like this...

In my experience it won't be an adult long before it's doing this either!

That about wraps up yet another update, I'll leave you with this shot of the little lane I walk most days...

Until the next time...

Fencing weevils and spiders that change colour...

I've been looking out for some fantastic little weevils that usually appear with,or soon after, the first hazel leaves. This year,as with many invertebrates,they were somewhat later than previous finds. But...on a superb spring day that saw rising temperatures recently, I spotted my first...

These are hazel leaf-roller weevils (Apoderus coryli) and although I've yet to find evidence of this (a task for this year) they get their name from the way that adult females roll the edge of a hazel leaf and lay eggs in the cradle it creates.

I did also witness something of a first for me regarding the behaviour of these beetles. I found what seems to be two males,both intent on mating with the same female (although,I'm not sure either was) and this involved lots of posturing by the males. They seemed to be almost 'fencing' with their antennae with heads raised and I am sure they were both sort of, clicking their heads/neck joints as well.

I attempted to capture it on the camera......just a very short clip that is a pretty poor effort but gives you some idea.....

I have read somewhere that the extended length of the head of these weevils may be associated with this activity.

I fully intended finding a female engaged in leaf rolling last spring but failed to do so and will double my efforts this year and hope that I'm lucky.

On a different note-I have not yet added to my moth trap finds. I have set it up twice in the past few weeks but sadly, the first occasion yielded just one (although a rather nice one that I've not had before and will add soon) and the second time, nothing! Not a single specimen, not even any flies.wasps or beetles....today is May 28th and I ran the trap again last night for just a couple of hours and have yet to check it out, so watch this space...

The woods where I found the weevils have been pretty productive for me over the last few visits and beneath the same hazel tree where I witnessed the 'weevil porn' I noticed this looper caterpillar hanging from a very delicate thread. It was spinning and wriggling and seemed to be trying to make its way back up to the leaf above,rather than down to the ground.

The soldier beetles are about now as well....

Again, this was on hazel and I think it's probably Cantharis pellucida but there are several similar ones including C.nigra and C.lateralis. I have a key somewhere to these and really should look it up.

From the same area came this fantastic looking crab spider...

This one seems to rejoice in the name of....'Common crab spider' and does appear to vary quite a lot in its markings (if I have the i.d. correct) with males having a very odd way of mating with females. He will grab hold of a female's legs and hold her until she stops struggling, then ties her down with threads of silk and finally, crawls underneath her to mate-how romantic!

My best find in this woodland though has to be this dragonfly. Not only is it just the second I have seen this year thus far (the other being a four spotted chaser) but is a first for me not only in these woods but anywhere locally....

Again,it's not the best shot but it was not settling for long and when it did, always in bright sunlight. I was very excited to see this one though as I am reasonably sure this is a Downy Emerald Dragonfly (Cordulia aenea) and looking at the abdomen shape a female. I think it is a fresh one too; the eye colour is bright.apple green in mature ones and this muddy brown in immature dragonflies.

I have only ever seen common darters, ruddy darters and southern hawkers at this site until now and after such a bad winter and cold spring, it really did make my day to find this 'newbie'. You can be sure I shall be looking out for more sightings and hoping for better photographic opportunities too. I think this makes three years in succession that I have discovered something new to me in these woods now. 

Misumena vatia

This spider (above) I do recognise. It is one that is common enough and quite easy to spot,unless it does its clever trick of changing colour to match the foliage. It can take a few days to effect a colour change but can vary from white to yellow, through to green.

Finding caterpillars is getting easier with each passing day it seems-here's another....

And another...

This one is not a caterpillar but a sawfly larva...

A the last for now...the tiniest you could imagine. I watched this emerge from an egg and photographed it soon after. It's a moth larva and was probably around 2mm at best...

Plenty of weevils to be found now and a real treat to find something out of the ordinary,or at least, different to the ones that I usually see...

Not actually sure about species here because of the mottled colour. Sitona or possibly Phyllobius? So many weevils,so little time!

To end this update I'll return to those woods where I have been finding lots of nice things this spring. Despite reading that butterfly sightings are well down again, I have found that locally at least, we do seem to be having a reasonable year and certainly well up in numbers and species from last year's appalling results...

A Large White Butterfly

Okay...more to come very soon including the results of last night's moth trapping.

Until the next time...

A change of county...

I've just returned from a week in Devon and was hoping that this blog entry would be crammed with all the finds from my week in the west country. Sadly, as is becoming the norm this year, expectations eclipsed reality.

Our little terrier 'Herbie' came too and was in seventh heaven, spending most of his time watching the chicken and sheep on the farm where we were staying.

Here he is looking like butter wouldn't melt! Although looking at this photo, it could have been taken anywhere-it was actually at Ham Hill in Somerset where we stopped off en route. Here's a photo of the ham stone that is quarried there, I've messed around with this shot a little and given it a bit of an HDR treatment...

Anyhow, to return to Herbie the terrier (or as a chum likes to call him "Herbie The Love Dog") for a moment. He may look all sweetness and light in the picture: but he brought us back an unwelcome present from Devon, that we didn't discover until we'd been home for 2 days!

This is what I found and only then by accident when stroking him...

Looks horrendous doesn't it. This is 'Ixodes scapularis' a Deer Tick. Judging by the size of its abdomen it had already had quite a good feed too. I've not seen these before but we did spot quite a number of deer closeby and I'm sure that's where he picked this one up. I managed to remove it and despite a thorough search, found no more.

Enough of the gruesome stuff...

Keen to see what was about on the first day of our stay, I scouted round the immediate area but only managed to find this little bee hiding in a flower head of a pot of chives. I think it may have made itself at home there as it was still in the same spot the next morning...

It wasn't that there were no invertebrates at all, but just that I was hoping a change of location and habitat would reward me with some unusual finds.As I'd already witnessed in Kent prior to a change of county, the cantharis species of beetle were everywhere. Even so, it was impossible to resist completely and I have to confess to taking a few shots.

Click on any photo for an even larger view

I think this one pictured above is probably 'Cantharis rustica' but once again, there are several similar species-anyhow, it's a natural light shot taken early one morning.

Monday looked like being a decent day and so we all headed off for Putsborough Sands, close to Croyde and Woolacombe...

After exploring the sands we climbed the hillside above the bay. I was half-hoping that I'd see some fritillary butterflies but the only flutterby I spotted was a speckled wood. I did however find this rather fine chafer beetle...

Aside from the lack of invert finds in Devon, there was still quite a bit happening. For instance,driving through a pine forest on a country lane I spotted a grey squirrel that must have just been hit by a car? It was right in the middle of the opposite side of the road and would be certain to get hit again by the next vehicle.

I reversed back, shoved on the trafficators and jumped out of the car.I managed to encourage it to the verge which it arrived at by wobbling along like it was drunk and then promptly seemed to shake itself and hurtled off into the undergrowth. I assume it must have just been dazed?

Next up was this casualty.....

This little one was sitting in the road close to where we were staying one evening. I'm not even sure of exactly which birdie this will become (if you know, please do tell) but, although we could find no nest nearby, we could hear an adult calling to it just the other side of the hedge bordering the lane.

We decided the best course of action would be to place it close to where we heard the adult, it would at least be safe from traffic there. Even so, it looked a little young to be out of the nest and I wasn't sure if we'd done the right thing.

And so now we're down to a few things that whilst they are still nice finds, are nothing that you wouldn't perhaps expect to see at this time of year...

 An Acorn Weevil

Andrena species of Bee (I think)

My final find of the week couldn't really be included as a holiday-find, as it wasn't until we stopped for a break travelling home, but had already reached Kent that I came across it: even so, these are fabulous beasts and always a real treat to see and photograph.

What am I talking about? The magnificent Green Tiger Beetle! What a stunning creature...

Just look at those powerful jaws-almost antler-like in design. It must be the stuff of nightmares if you happen to be another insect?

That then comprises my total week's worth of bug-hunting. Actually, bug-hunting was secondary to the main purpose of our break. That being to chill for a while and that we did.No noisy neighbours, no traffic noise, no light pollution, plenty to eat and drink and beautiful surroundings-bliss!

More updates soon.

Until the next time then...